The original DeCew Falls Water Treatment Plant is a brown brick building north of DeCew Road. It was constructed in 1925 to safeguard municipal water quality, and has been expanded several times over the years. Since 1970, it has been operated by the Regional Municipality of Niagara, and is the largest water treatment plant in the Region, serving St. Catharines, Thorold, Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Jordan with up to 227 million litres of water per day.

The water treated by the plant is drawn from Lake Erie and conveyed to the DeCew Reservoirs via the Welland Canal through one of the two hydro intakes into the waterworks delivery canal.  It uses gravity flow and the natural elevation of the Niagara Escarpment to help distribute the treated water throughout its service area.

The DeCew Falls Water Treatment Plant is located adjacent to a reservoir complex known as the Waterworks Reservoir, found just south of DeCew Road, west of Merritville Highway. Surrounded by picturesque Water Commission Park, Waterworks Reservoir was initially established as part of the St. Catharines Waterworks in the 1870s to supply drinking water to the growing population of St. Catharines to the north. To create the Waterworks, Beaverdams Creek was dammed in two locations just above DeCew Falls in the late 1870s, and the new municipal water supply was piped down the escarpment to St. Catharines.

Click to play or download Waterworks Reservoir / Water Commission Park / DeCew Falls Water Treatement Plant TripClip (mp3 format).

This destination is also part of the TripClip tour 'Touring the Twelve.'