The Fleet Street Pumping Station is a historic water

pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses in situations such as well drilling, drilled wells and drinking water, are facilities containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastru ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is west of downtown in the LeBreton Flats area, near the new

Canadian War Museum The Canadian War Museum (french: link=no, Musée canadien de la guerre; CWM) is a national museum on the country's military history in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The museum serves as both an educational facility on Canadian military history, in a ...

. The building was opened in 1875 as Ottawa's first pumping station (PS) and pumped unfiltered water from the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...

into the city's new

water distribution system A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements. Defini ...

. The station was designed by

Thomas Keefer Thomas Coltrin Keefer CMG (4 November 1821 – 7 January 1915) was a Canadian civil engineer. Biography Born into a United Empire Loyalist family in Thorold Township, Upper Canada, the son of George Keefer and Jane Emory, née McBride, his f ...

, who designed water systems for many cities in Canada. It has been expanded several times since its construction. Ottawa now has two Water Purification Plants: one on

Lemieux Island Lemieux Island (french: Île Lemieux) is a small island in the middle of the Ottawa River at the edge of Nepean Bay in the National Capital Region of Canada. The island lies between Gatineau, Quebec, and the national capital, Ottawa, Ontario. Adm ...

opened in 1922, and one at

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

, which opened in 1961. These two plants produce 275 million litres of water every day. The Fleet Street PS still plays an important role in the city's water distribution system. The pumping station, designated as heritage in 1982 under the ''

Ontario Heritage Act The ''Ontario Heritage Act'', (the ''Act'') first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Province of Ontario, Canada, as being of cultural heritage ...

'', uses hydraulic power to pump water and is the only one of its kind in Canada still in operation. In 1981 it was recognized by the AWWA with the American/Canadian/Mexican Landmarks Award. The discharge from the PS provides a class 2 whitewater site used by canoe and kayak enthusiasts.

References

*''Exploring Ottawa: an architectural guide to the nation's capital.'' Harold Kalman and John Roaf. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1983.
City of Ottawa - Water Purification and Treatment
{{coord, 45.416099, N, 75.710853, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Ottawa Designated heritage properties in Ottawa