WATERTOWER HILL

In 1926 the Village of Abbotsford’s first public water system was installed. A small pump filled the water tower on the hill east of the Village and a gravity system supplied good pressure in the lower-lying areas of the Village and provided sufficient pressure to the homes in higher areas. The early system had its drawbacks. Cold weather would freeze the feed pipes; extended periods of dry weather lessened the flow in the feeder creek and the tank would go dry. Plumbing repairs required the entire system to be shut down as no shutoff valves had been installed in individual homes and businesses.

When such shutdowns occurred, local school children had to be sent home, and local entrepreneurs sprang into action to supply well water to those the Village system had let down. The system did not provide adequate pressure to meet the Village’s firefighting needs. When the Abbotsford Hotel fire occurred in 1927, insufficient water was available and the south side of the East Essendene business district was destroyed. By 1930, improved pumps and shutoff valves had been installed at 20 downtown connections. The system had been installed to serve about 60 homes but was serving about 170 subscribers, including some residents of the District of Sumas where the District abutted the Village.

Eventually, the Village Commissioners realized a new water system was needed and the development of a larger water system located in Ravine Park was begun. Rights to the Ware Street Creek, as the Ravine Park system was called, were secured and 2,700 feet of burlap and tarred wooden piping was laid through the ravine and a pump forced the new water source toward the downtown system. A second high-level tank was erected and an extended system of piping was installed. In the mid-1940s two new metal storage tanks with a capacity of 24,000 gallons each were purchased and erected on the hill east of the Village, replacing the decaying wooden east water tower. Pumps kept water flowing directly into the Village mains but when demand was low surplus water was diverted to the storage tanks.