{"id":201196,"date":"2021-01-08T17:32:29","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T22:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csce.dev\/en\/?post_type=historic_site&p=201196"},"modified":"2022-07-06T11:42:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T15:42:26","slug":"st-johns-water-system","status":"publish","type":"historic_site","link":"https:\/\/legacy.csce.ca\/en\/historic-site\/st-johns-water-system\/","title":{"rendered":"St. John\u2019s Water System"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

St. John\u2019s Water System, St. John\u2019s, NL.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Windsor Lake Water Treatment Plant (Source: S. Haye)<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Site Location: Lat.: 47\u00b0 \u2013 36\u2019 \u2013 26\u201d N; Long.: 52\u00b0 \u2013 46\u2019 \u2013 8\u201d W. (GPS: 47.6072481, -52.7690077). Windsor Lake Water Treatment Plant: From Trans-Canada Highway 1, take Exit 47A, Portugal Cove Road\/NL-40 N. Proceed 3.5 km and turn left (south east) on Airport Heights Drive, and after 0.2 km turn right (south west) on Parker Pond Road. The Windsor Lake Water Treatment Plant is on the right. George\u2019s Pond: is about 100 m northeast of the Signal Hill Visitor Centre.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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George\u2019s Pond (Source: E. Dove)<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Plaque Location: The plaque is mounted on a wall in the administrative area near the visitor entrance of the Windsor Water Treatment Plant. Visits to the facility are by appointment only.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Plaque on wall of administrative area, Windsor Lake Water Treatment Plant, next to a mock-up of the membrane filtration system. (Source: S. Haye)<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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George\u2019s Pond from Signal Hill (Source: E. Dove)<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Description: The Water System of St. John\u2019s developed in two parts, and took the best part of a century to resolve. Originally designed by British engineers, the system was plagued with problems that the engineering know-how and technology of the time seemed ill-equipped to deal with. The original Water System of St. John\u2019s consisted of George\u2019s Pond on Signal Hill (1846) and Windsor Lake, north of the city (1860), together with transmission mains and distribution networks throughout the older parts of St. John\u2019s, along with historic screen houses and chlorination plants. Although intended to prevent loss of property due to catastrophic fires, its failure in July 1892 allowed The Great Fire to destroy most of the city.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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\u201cCity Counsellors visit the scene of operations at the new water works, Winsor [sic] Lake\u201d. (Source: Newfoundland Quarterly, October 1905, 5(2): 17.)<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Historic Significance: The St. John\u2019s Water System is the second oldest in Atlantic Canada, and only three water systems are known to exist in British North America before 1850. It supplied potable water to allow for the development of St. John\u2019s, and prevented water-borne disease following the cholera epidemic of 1854. It spurred industrial development and an efficient sewer system. Its broader impacts include: breaking the stranglehold of absent and foreign landlordism that hampered local ownership of properties; creating a mechanism that established civic numbering of city properties; and, paving the way for municipal government in Newfoundland.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The original Windsor Lake supply continues to supply the City of St. John\u2019s with excellent quality water in quantity.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Plaque detail. (Source: S. Haye)<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Plaque Wording: Canadian Society for Civil Engineering. CSCE. ST. JOHN\u2019S WATER SYSTEM. A tribute to the civil engineers and all who helped design, build and maintain this, the second oldest water system in what is now Atlantic Canada. Started in 1846 at George\u2019s Pond, Signal Hill, it was extended in 1860 by incorporating Twenty Mile Pond (Windsor Lake). After further upgrades at the hands of several notable British, Canadian and American Civil Engineers, it continues to form the core of the regional water system. Canadian Society for Civil Engineering. 2009.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

SGCE. Site Historique National de G\u00e9nie Civil. L\u2019AQUEDUC DE ST. JOHN\u2019S. En hommage aux ing\u00e9nieurs civils et \u00e0 toutes les personnes qui ont contribu\u00e9 \u00e0 la conception, \u00e0 la construction et \u00e0 l\u2019entretien de cet ouvrage, qui fut le deuxi\u00e8me du genre dans les provinces de l\u2019Atlantique. Commenc\u00e9 en 1846 \u00e0 George\u2019s Pond, Signal Hill, le r\u00e9seau fut prolong\u00e9 en 1860 avec l\u2019addition de \u201cTwenty Mile Pond\u201d (Windsor Lake). Il fut ensuite am\u00e9loire gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 la contribution d\u2019\u00e9minents ing\u00e9nieurs civils britanniques, canadiens, et am\u00e9ricains, et il demeure \u00e0 ce jour le coeur de r\u00e9seau regional. Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 canadienne de g\u00e9nie civil. 2009.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Plaque Unveiling Ceremony: CSCE President Guy Gosselin and St. John\u2019s Mayor Dennis O\u2019Keefe unveiled the plaque on May 27, 2009 at Windsor Lake. Gordon Jin, Chair of the CSCE Newfoundland and Labrador Section, formally presented it to the City. Alistair MacKenzie of the CSCE National History Committee was Master of Ceremonies. Reg Wallace, Chair of the CSCE National History Committee briefly described the historic sites commemoration program, and Steve Garland, Logistics Chair on the CSCE 2009 Conference Local Organizing Committee, described the historical attributes of the St. John\u2019s Water System.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St. John\u2019s Water System, St. John\u2019s, NL.   Site Location: Lat.: 47\u00b0 \u2013 36\u2019 \u2013 26\u201d N; Long.: 52\u00b0 \u2013 46\u2019 \u2013 8\u201d W. (GPS: 47.6072481, -52.7690077). Windsor Lake Water […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22598,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","classification":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.csce.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/historic_site\/201196"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.csce.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/historic_site"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.csce.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/historic_site"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.csce.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22598"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.csce.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201196"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.csce.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/historic_site\/201196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211005,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.csce.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/historic_site\/201196\/revisions\/211005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.csce.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"classification","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.csce.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/classification?post=201196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}