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TIME TRAVELLER: When water from the Capilano started flowing to Vancouver

When the new City of Vancouver was created and municipal leaders were looking for a source of clean drinking water, they found it at Capilano.
Time Traveller (for Jan. 6 edition)WEB
photo G.G. Nye, NVMA 87

When the new City of Vancouver was created and municipal leaders were looking for a source of clean drinking water, they found it at Capilano.

The Vancouver Waterworks, a private syndicate, was responsible for delivering the water from the river to Vancouver. They built the dam seen in this photo of the Capilano Intake from 1905. The photo also shows the caretaker’s cabin at left and summer house in middle.

From the Vancouver Waterworks dam the water travelled through a pipeline alongside the river down to the tidewater and through a water main beneath the First Narrows across Stanley Park into the city. It was an engineering feat for its time. On March 26, 1889, water from the Capilano began flowing to Vancouver.

Click here for more information about the history of the North Shore and to learn about MONOVA: Museum of North Vancouver, opening in 2021.

Currently, the Archives of North Vancouver at 3203 Institute Rd. in Lynn Valley is open by appointment only. Contact: archives@monova.ca