[Vaucluse]

I've learned a few things about the mystery shed which I'd like to share with you folks. This shed is part of the Albion Sanitary Sewer but I haven't learned what it's function is yet, however, it seems to be related to the other small building about 50m directly west of it. The building has number H-711 painted on the front to the right of the door, while it looks like the work of the local "artists" it is actually painted on by the surveyor of the rest of the sewer. The access cover on the floor in the previous photos is actually #35 in the maintenance hole series of the mentioned sewer. The "hose" on the wall is actually a 230V 100A cable that feeds into something buried below the floor, my calculations have it as about 30hp - pump size power is my guess. Inside of this shed is a circuit breaker panel that labels the CBs as "Control Room - (function)", eg. Control Room - Light. So this is the control room, for what is the original question. The building to the west has more mechanical and electrical equipment inside but the state of that structure is such that I thought it best not to go inside. I have some photos on my phone that I'll post later.

 

[Vaucluse]

I'm not very good at posting photos but here goes. The first couple photos are of the mystery shed.

 

[Vaucluse]

These next photos are of the other building about 50m to the west of the mystery shed.

 

[Vaucluse]

Now for some more information. I went to the Albion Sanitary Sewer public information meeting in Weston this evening which gave me an opportunity to discuss these buildings with people from Toronto Water and some consulting engineers... I was the only one there.
However, I learned that these buildings are not part of the Albion Sewer and that the city engineers did not know what the building are for or that they did exist. One consulting engineer for the project who had seen the buildings thought that they are for a water main but wasn't sure, he was sure that it's not part of the sewer. One of the older consulting engineers said he had seen a similar building at Sheppard Ave. and the Don River and that building was an old well-head for North York Water. He also thought that it could be a water sampling station for the MOE building nearby.
The City of Toronto project manager for the Albion Sewer had no idea but was very interested in these buildings and asked me to send these photos to him. He promised that he would find out to whom they belonged to and to ensure that they are secured in the future.
So, while we are much further ahead we still haven't an answer to the original question - what are these buildings for?

 

[smitty9999]

If it is actually part of a sanitary truck sewer system, its possible these are sewage pumping stations. I've seen them (drawings only though) at work, to allow sewage to be pumped up against a gradient in low lying areas. That's just a wild guess though. I'll follow up with the latest details with my coworkers.

In mean time, I highly suggest someone contacts the City and requests as-built drawing for this area. They may have these buildings on older drawings.

 

[Vaucluse]

I have a response from Toronto Water about these two buildings. The mystery shed is still a mystery, it does not belong to Toronto Water's water supply, sanitary sewer or storm sewer systems. The other brick building is known to them though, it is a sanitary sewer pumping station that pumps waste water into the Albion Sewer. Toronto Water will get back to me next week about the building as they wait for an answer back from MOE if the shed belongs to them.
They have sent me a drawing of the area and I'll try to post it but the drawing does show the mystery shed and some of it's related piping. As I look at the drawing I have another idea to it's purpose, it could be a pumping station for the MOE fountain. This building looks like it has been abandoned for the past 25 years and the fountain hasn't run for about that amount of time. We have enough power for a large water pump with a timer to control it.
P.S. The drawing will be in the next post as it's a TIFF file and I'm not sure if this site supports that format.

 

[Vaucluse]

Ok, here is the important part of the drawing that Toronto Water sent me:

 

[christiesplits]

Great work Vaucluse. We're slowly putting together the puzzle.

 

[Vaucluse]

Hi everyone, no word yet back from Toronto Water or the MOE about the mystery shed but I did pass by on the weekend and took some more photos. In my last posting I thought that the shed might be related to the old fountain in front of the MOE building, so working on the assumption that the shed is a pump house then it should have an intake from the river... and guess what I found.

This pipe is about 8m east of the shed and leads straight to it.
Here is a photo from the Humber Trail bridge nearby:

The real odd thing about this hexagonal block of concrete is that I don't recall ever seeing it before, and I must have crossed this bridge a few hundred times.