Toronto is planning to establish a wetland in a neglected spot of public land near High Park that will clean stormwater before it is dumped into Lake Ontario — in the process, improving the quality of the water around Sunnyside Beach.
[The project] uses cattail thickets, lily pads and sunshine to stop motor oil, pesticides and dog feces from being flushed into Lake Ontario. The storm water will first pass through a grit and oil separator before dumping into a catch basin, where heavy material will sink to the bottom. The water will then flow into the wetlands, where more pollutants will settle and vegetation will absorb others.
Sunshine hitting the ponds will kill bacteria before the water enters the lake.
Water moves through the entire system using gravity. A network of pipes will insure the water is always moving and does not become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
It’s an excellent initiative, a natural, renewable, low-energy method for cleaning urban pollution from our water, making the City of Toronto just a little bit more sustainable. Read more details in the National Post.
