Discover Toronto's history as told through its plaques

2004 - Now in our 15th Year - 2019

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Island Water Treatment Plant

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted August, 2016

Located on Toronto Island on Lakeshore Avenue almost a kilometre west of Avenue of the Island, this 2015 Heritage Toronto plaque has this to say:

Coordinates: 43.613275 -79.382941

Click here for a larger map

Three successive water filtration plants were built on this site. The original plant, designed by engineer Allen Hazen and completed in 1912, was the first water purification facility in the City of Toronto. From 1914 to 1917, a larger plant was built to replace it. Both facilities played a critical role in the reduction of waterborne diseases, including typhoid fever, that killed hundreds of people in the 1880s and 1890s. The filtration plant was guarded during both World Wars to prevent possible sabotage of the city's water supply.

The original plant filtered lake water through layers of sand and gravel before piping it to the city through a tunnel under the Toronto harbour. A few of the 1917 buildings are still in use as part of the present water treatment facility, which was built from 1975 to 1977. Cold water from the plant helps regulate the temperature of city buildings connected to the Deep Lake Water Cooling System.

More plaques found on Toronto Island
Allan A. Lamport Regatta Course
Babe Ruth at Hanlan's Point
English's Boathouse
Gibraltar Point
Gibraltar Point Lighthouse
Island Filtration Plant
The Lake Light
Manitou Road
Milton Acorn and Gwendolyn MacEwen
Ned Hanlan 1855-1908
Queen City Yacht Club
Residents or Parks? Remaking Toronto Island
The Royal Canadian Yacht Club
St. Andrew-by-the-Lake
Toronto Island

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Government Buildings

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