Greater Winnipeg Water District Aqueduct
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.
Greater Winnipeg Water District Aqueduct | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 49°37′21″N 95°11′44″W |
| Locale | Shoal Lake 40 First Nation |
| Begins | Shoal Lake, Ontario |
| Ends | Deacon Reservoir, Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Owner | City of Winnipeg |
| Characteristics | |
| Total length | 154 km (96 mi) |
| Capacity | 85 million imp gal (390 million L) |
| History | |
| Engineering design by | Hering, Fuertes and Stearns |
| Built | 1913-1919 |
| Opened | 1919 |
| Location | |
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. Water flows by gravity from the lake, since the aqueduct drops about 91 metres (300 ft) over its length.
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.