From the archives: Building Toronto's largest water treatment plant
The R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant began operating in Toronto's east end in 1941. It's the largest water treatment plant in the city, producing 36 per cent (166,500,000,000 litres) of Toronto's water in 2011. The building offers a distinct architectural statement with its art deco styling, and was declared a national historic civil engineering site in 1992. A rehabilitation of the plant is slated to be completed next year.
Steel piling is constructed for the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant April 21, 1933. Construction on the plant began in 1932 and the building became operational on Nov. 1, 1941.City of Toronto Archives
Membrane waterproofing is pictured on the reservoir floor at the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant (originally called the Victoria Park Filtration Plant or Pumping Station), Sept. 13, 1933.City of Toronto Archives
The construction site at the Victoria Park Filtration Plant or Pumping Station (later called the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant) is seen June 12. 1935.City of Toronto Archives
The R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant's steel roof frame is seen March 26, 1936.City of Toronto Archives
The Victoria Park Filtration Plant or Pumping Station (later called the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant after former Toronto works commissioner Roland Caldwell Harris) is under construction in this photo from March 26, 1936.City of Toronto Archives
A panoramic view of the Victoria Park Filtration Plant construction site (later called the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant after former Toronto works commissioner Roland Caldwell Harris) is seen May 29, 1936.City of Toronto Archives
Workers repair the chimney on the Victoria Park Pumping Station (later called the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant) on Sept. 8, 1945. The filtration plant became operational Nov. 1, 1941.City of Toronto Archives
An addition is near completion at the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant in this aerial view of the site at at the foot of Victoria Park Ave, taken April 30, 1957. The expansion, which cost nearly $2.5-million, made the facility the largest municipal water purification plant in Canada at the time, supplying water to 70 per cent of the Metro area.Richard Cole/The Globe and Mail
An interior view of the R.C. Harris plant: the lights on the pylon at the centre of the shot show the water level in the wash tanks. The man in the background is standing at the west filter operating gallery. Photo taken June 2, 1983.John McNeill/The Globe and Mail
The R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant, seen in this July 28, 1992 photo.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The R.C. Harris Treatment Plant sits on Lake Ontario in Toronto's Beaches. Photo taken Sept. 20, 2007.J.P. Moczulski for The Globe and Mail