This is the 4th cache to put an ironic spin on attributes like 'wheelchair accessible' or 'parking nearby.' I always feel a little funny selecting attributes for new caches because, technically, every facility is nearby when you're in Toronto. Like, if you're thirsty? You've got all of Lake Ontario to drink…
Clean running water is a modern miracle, and if you have the time you can learn all about the system that brings it to us Torontonians. That’s where my chemist mother made her career. My mom says your mom…should feel perfectly safe drinking Toronto tap water!
In homage, this cache is located near the Scarborough Pumping Station, which started out in 1920 as a water treatment plant. It no longer cleans our water but it does suck that water uphill to our Scarborough homes (and some in Markham, too).
You can’t tell that the green space south of the station building is actually the original treatment facility’s underground reservoir. As of the planting of this cache, it’s being converted into an emergency overflow tank, with a new above ground surge tank. It reminds me that there is a lot of infrastructure that quietly supports our city, and we are lucky to be able to take it so far for granted that we don’t even realize it’s there.
Like other hides in this series, the cache may be easy to find but hard to open. (Or maybe too easy, if you've already found Buses at Rest, No Picnics.) Obviously please reset all parts as intended to keep up the challenge for the next cacher, and pipe up if they are starting to fail. Snow should not be a problem, and the wrapping will hopefully keep ice out during colder months. Pencil included. Watch out for off leash dogs...they are definitely not all corralled into the nearby dog park. Actually, I think there may be a bottle refill station there, if you really do need a drink of water!
Congrats Bouffe 😊 FTF 19 Jan 2026 @ 6:28pm