The water system in Toronto is massive, over 520 kilometres of watermains run beneath the bustling city streets, and that's only those watermains that are 150mm or larger in diameter.
Add to this over 10,000 kilometres of sanitary and storm sewers and you have quite the municipal plumbing system to maintain.
This job is left up to a large group of City workers, who are always on call to repair watermain breaks (of which more than 1500 occur each and every year within the City of Toronto) and execute routine maintenance such as cleaning out drainage pipes and upgrading watermains.
However, there is yet an even larger role to be played by those plumbers in Toronto that work directly with the recipients of all of this water.
Toronto Water reports over 450,000 water connections, each and every connection must be made or upgraded by a contracted licensed plumber.
Needless to say there is no shortage of work for these plumbers! Installing New Water Connections One task that Toronto plumbers face is connecting new water service to properties.
This may not be an everyday occurrence but someone has to do it.
The City will perform a portion of the work, connecting the watermain to the property-line while the contracted plumber will perform the rest of the procedure - connecting the watermain to the actual properties plumbing.
Many years ago watermains were installed made out of lead pipes and to this day there are still lead piping being used in many Toronto area homes.
In our modern times, it is common knowledge that lead is a harmful toxic substance, but back in the earlier era no one had a clue.
This is why it's important for all new homeowners who are taking residence in an older home to have their water service tested for lead contamination.
Your local plumber can perform this test for you.
If it turns out you have lead in your water the City of Toronto has established a special priority water service replacement program.
This will enable you to schedule a the work of replacing your watermain with the services of a plumber.
The City workers will replace the section of lead piping running from the watermain to the property line, and the plumbers will replace the lead that runs from the property line to your home.
This is highly suggested as lead is dangerous to all people but especially susceptible are pregnant woman and young children.
Upgrading Existing Water Service Another task you'll find Toronto plumbers hard at work performing is upgrading existing water service.
As the City of Toronto has grown in both size and stature, so too has the demand that is placed on the old water connections established in a younger year.
While many of these water service connections are adequate to supply enough water to meet demand, many still are not.
This problem is particularly felt in homes that have very high water utilization.
For instance, if someone is at home running a dishwasher to clean up after dinner, taking a shower to clean themselves up after their day, and also watering their lawn (as is best after sundown), the water intake can quickly become higher than can be supplied by the service pipe.
This leads to low water pressure issues.
The fix is simple enough as a plumber can upgrade the water service connection by simply installing a larger diameter water pipe.
This will increase the flow of water, eliminating low water pressure problems.
The Toronto Water Meter Upgrade Recently Toronto Water has launched a mandatory water meter replacement program.
The City is shifting from the old traditional water meters that require a technician to visit and record the usage, to a wireless system that will allow the technician to simple drive down the street recording the usage as they pass the meter.
The problem with the new water meters is that they cannot be installed on homes that have an old water connection that is hooked up using either lead or galvanized pipes.
The new water meters leak and have a ton of issues related to these old types of pipes, so it is necessary for home and property owners to upgrade their service connections.
This means calling out their local Toronto plumber to perform the work for them.
Plumbers, Critical to Toronto's Success While the City of Toronto has done a lot to provide clean water including treatment and distribution of that water, it really is the plumbers that perform the middle-man service of connecting properties and upgrading water supply connections to ensure that the water reaches those who need it.
Regardless of where you may be, next time you turn on your tap consider this symbiotic relationship between municipalities and the independent contractors that allow the system to function.