The R. C.

Harris Water Treatment Plant in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is both a cr ucial piece of infrastructure and an architecturally acclaimed historic building named after the long time commissioner of Toronto's public works R.C. Harris. I t is located in the east of the city at the eastern end of Queen Street and at t he foot of Victoria Park Avenue along the shore of Lake Ontario in the Beaches n eighbourhood.With an early 20th century Toronto plagued with water shortages and unclean drinking water, public health advocates such as George Nasmith and Toro nto's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Charles Hastings, campaigned for a modern w ater purification system.The structure was constructed on the former site of Vic toria Park, a waterfront amusement park that operated until 1906. Construction o n the plant began in 1932 and the building became operational on November 1st, 1 941.Despite its age, the plant is still fully functional, providing approximatel y 45% of the water supply for Toronto and the Region of York. The intakes are lo cated over 2.6 kilometres (1.6 mi) from shore in 15 metres (49 ft) of water, run ning through two pipes under the bed of the lake. Water is also chlorinated in t he plant and then pumped to various reservoirs throughout the City of Toronto an d the Region of York.