Fleet Street Pumping Station

Located in an unassuming grey building in LeBreton Flats under Old Wellington Street is the Fleet Street Pumping Station. Opened in 1875 as Ottawa’s first pumping station, it directs unfiltered water from the Ottawa River into the city’s supply system. At first, it used the energy of Chaudiere Falls to force untreated water into the system, until 1915 when an electric motor-driven station was built on Lemieux Island; a complete water purification plant was constructed in 1932. The station was built on the heels of a number of health epidemics in the Ottawa area, significantly reducing the amount of illness once city residents finally had access to clean drinking water.