Latest piece of public art is not going to waste

They say one man’s waste is another man’s art and the city is taking that to heart.

Instead of quietly flushing away, the city is putting the spotlight on a new wastewater station in the northeast. Calgarians are invited to the opening Saturday (7-8:30 p.m.) of the Forest Lawn Lift Station which houses a new piece of public art.

The station near the intersection of 19th Avenue and 26th Street S.E. provides enough sanitary capacity for the growing east side of Calgary for the next 75-plus years. There are more than 40 stations in the city that lift wastewater from lowlying areas to higher areas.

“Despite their vital role … few people notice these usually nondescript buildings or understand their importance,” says Chris Huston, manager of field services for the city’s water department.

A collaboration between architects, artists and engineers, the new station features an exact, to-scale map of the underground pipes connected to the station. The map uses LED lighting and live data to show, in real time, the water travelling though the system on its way to the Bonnybrook Wastewater Treatment Plant. As the lights change colour, they show what is happening underground.

The station is a project of the city’s Watershed+ program which embeds artists with the Utilities and Environmental Protection (UEP) department. The work is one of several in the city created by Sans falcon, a Glasgow-based collective.