Greater Winnipeg Water District Aqueduct

Greater Winnipeg Water District Aqueduct
Coordinates49°37′21″N 95°11′44″W / 49.62250°N 95.19556°W / 49.62250; -95.19556 (GWWD Aqueduct)
LocaleShoal Lake 40 First Nation
BeginsShoal Lake, Ontario
EndsDeacon Reservoir, Winnipeg, Manitoba
OwnerCity of Winnipeg
Characteristics
Total length154 km (96 mi)
Capacity85 million imp gal (390 million L)
History
Engineering design byHering, Fuertes and Stearns
Built1913-1919
Opened1919
Location
Map

The Greater Winnipeg Water District Aqueduct (GWWDA) is an aqueduct that supplies the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, with water from Shoal Lake, Kenora District, Ontario. Winnipeg has relied on the lake as its source for safe drinking water since the aqueduct was put in service in 1919 at a cost of nearly CDN $16 million.[1][2]

It has a capacity of 85 million imp gal (390 million L) per day (4.4 cubic metres per second), a capacity that was planned for a city of one million inhabitants; peak water usage by the city was in 1988 and the capacity of the aqueduct has never been entirely used.

The aqueduct extends approximately 154 kilometres (96 mi) from an intake structure on Shoal Lake to the Deacon Reservoir on the east side of the Winnipeg floodway, a few kilometres south of Highway 15.[3] Water flows by gravity from the lake, since the aqueduct drops about 91 metres (300 ft) over its length.[4]

Access by maintenance staff to the aqueduct has been provided by the Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway, also operated by the City, since 1916. The Railway formerly provided passenger and freight rail services to the public, from Winnipeg to the rail station at the Shoal Lake aqueduct intake.[1]

Overflow tank for Winnipeg aqueduct prevents pressure rise if water demand is low. Tache Ave. Winnipeg near 49°53′52.04″N 97°07′43.10″W / 49.8977889°N 97.1286389°W / 49.8977889; -97.1286389
  1. ^ a b Water and Waste Department. "Shoal Lake and Winnipeg's Drinking Water". legacy.winnipeg.ca. City of Winnipeg. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  2. ^ http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/24/winnipegaqueduct.shtml The Building of the Winnipeg Aqueduct, retrieved 2014 July 25
  3. ^ Water and Waste Department. "Treatment Plant Background - Water Treatment Program". legacy.winnipeg.ca. City of Winnipeg. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  4. ^ http://www.winnipegrealtors.ca/Resources/Article/?sysid=936 90th anniversary of Shoal Lake aqueduct, retrieved 2014 July 25