One of Canada’s most spectacular public works and a tour de force of architecture lies at 2701 Queen St. E. in Scarborough, Ontario. Providing the essence of survival to at least 35% of Torontonians, it is a marvel of engineering and produces drinking, bathing and cooking water to residents who don’t give its easy access a second thought.
What would happen if you couldn’t bathe, shave, have tea in the morning or flush your toilet…. Pandemonium, that’s what! Something that we take for granted in our privileged lives…the simple act of having water!
Toronto’s main treatment plant, the R. C. Harris buildings produce around 35% of the city’s water. Lake Ontario water is treated with a coagulant and pumped on top of several beds (water basins) which are covered in charcoal. The water filters down the charcoal and the successively coarser layers of rock underneath it, until it reaches an underground reservoir. Chemicals are added then, mainly fluoride and chlorine, the treated water sits in the basins for several hours allowing sediment to sink to the bottom, then it is treated with more filtering and presto bango bingo, water is delivered to almost a third of the citizens of Toronto.
- Produces more than 120,000 million litres of water annually
- Can produce 950 million litres daily
I would like to pay tribute to the man who built this ‘Palace of Purification’ for whom the building was named…Roland Caldwell Harris, Toronto’s commissioner of public works from 1912 until 1945. The water plant, and other Toronto landmarks such as the Bloor Street viaduct, were built during his tenure. Architect Thomas Canfield Pomphrey designed the plant, that was built in phases throughout the 1930s in the art deco style opening in 1941.
The pumps in the low-lift room, seen from the gallery at the west end of the room, deliver raw water to the Filter Building for treatment. Each pump is numbered; the elaborate limestone signal panel indicates which pumps are operating
The use of rich materials like marble and bronze in the interior (plus the extensive limestone carvings on the exterior helped earn the nickname “Palace of Purification”.
If you are ever in Toronto for an extended visit and have the time, you should definitely have a picnic on the grounds and inspect the many buildings comprising the plant. It is incredible.
For a previous post on water, see the ‘essence of life’. For a flash to the past, check out this video which really has nothing to do with the subject of this piece but I played it endlessly when travelling through Europe in 1986.
REFLECTIONS OF A SWAMPER 