Garrett Morgan Water Treatment Plant

The Garrett A. Morgan Water Treatment Plant, built in 1916, was originally named The Division Avenue Pumping and Filtration Plant and was constructed on the site where the original water system originated in 1856. This makes Morgan the oldest treatment facility within the Cleveland Water system. In addition to being the oldest, Morgan also has the largest Ohio EPA-approved capacity of 150 million gallons, pumping an average of 60 million gallons of water a day to the residents and businesses located downtown and in the western and southern suburbs of Cleveland.

From 2001 to 2012, Morgan underwent renovations as part of Cleveland Water’s Plant Enhancement Project. The cost associated with these improvements was $225.5 million and consisted of a new finished water pump station, renovated filters, a renovated Filter and Administration building, a renovated raw water pump station, renovated chemical system, renovated residual system, and a new 15 million gallon reservoir.

In 1991, the plant was renamed the Garrett A. Morgan Water Treatment Plant. It is named after Garrett Augustus Morgan, a local inventor and entrepreneur whose creations have made a positive impact on the world and are still being used today. He is also known for inventing an improved traffic signal with a warning light; a zig-zag stitching attachment for sewing machines; and hair cream.  However, his most notable invention was the gas mask which saved the lives of several men trapped during an explosion in an underground tunnel beneath Lake Erie in 1916. This same gas mask was adopted by the U.S. Armed Forces during WWI and became the prototype for modern-day firefighting hoods used to battle oil well fires.