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Dufferin Grove Park playground water use
The sandpit:
One hour of water running out of the sandpit watertap measures as 416 liters (Lee Valley garden hose water meter). The longest that the tap would be running in a day 10 hours: 4160 liters a day.
The wading pool:
1. Davey White, a student at Rosedale Valley High School, measured the circumference of the pool (just to where the water gets to when the pool is filled). Then he measured the level of the normal depth of the water. Then he took these measurements in to his math/physics teacher, Dr.Brian Lim. Dr.Lim helped him to calculate the amount of water with these measurements: to put water in the wading pool takes 29,060 liters.
2. Recreation program staff say that in the last several years, the wading pool was half emptied and refilled three times a day, so that means it would have used about 72,620 liters a day. This year, the pool is only emptied once, but completely. That means it now uses about 58,120 liters of water every day, not counting the hosing for pool cleaning.
That's only if no dog runs up and puts its paws in the water, or a child gets water up its nose and gags and throws up -- then the whole pool would have to be drained and refilled an extra time.
3. Before the new public health rules (not legal but only procedural and not based on any epidemiological research), the wading pool was using less than half that amount of water.
4. Water researcher Belinda Cole contacted 311 to ask if Dufferin Grove and MacGregor Park have water meters. The answer: "Most or all City facilities are metered. If no, plans would be in place to meter each facility. Yes there are meters in Toronto parks and arenas." Then a request to Open Data. No answer. Then from Daniel Galluzzo, Utility Billing Co-Ordinator, Revenue Services: "Requests of this nature should go through the City Clerks office as I am not sure what information I would be authorized to release to the general public about specific properties."
5. Freedom of Information Request June 17, 2016:
Request to see Monthly Records for water use for 2 years - 1) 2006 AND 2) 2015 for two city parks: 1) Dufferin Park (875 Dufferin St Toronto), and 2) MacGregor Park 346 Lansdowne Ave Toronto). If available, I am requesting a break-down of the records listed above for both parks showing: 1) water use for wading pools only and 2) for entire park.
City Division: Toronto Water
6. Response from Revenue Services: Water is not metered.
"....staff of Revenue Services advised that these City parks are exempt from being billed for water therefore they have no records and staff responsible for the Toronto Water Meter Program advised there were no meters at these locations for the period requested."