CUEK #586

Episode Commentary


A couple of months ago Jason Anarchy gave me a ride back to Canada. As we crossed the border into Ontario I mentioned I'd never seen the falls, and this conversation ensued. It was not my finest moment.

Comments (4)

  1. Comment Hidden

    I may be wrong, but don't they use the falls as like energy generation? So would reducing the falls actually mean that less energy is being generated and so it is less "energy conservative"?

    • Comment Hidden

      Not exactly, at night they divert water from the river that feeds the falls towards a special reservoir not far north of the falls. During the day, when electricity demands are higher, the water from that reservoir flows to a hydroelectric power plant and then into the lower river past the falls.

      The falls themselves get less water during the night because a lot of it is diverted to the reservoir.

      They don't fill the reservoir during the day due to 2 reasons.
      First because it would divert a lot of water from the falls, the tourism industry doesn't really like that.
      Second, they do need to use some pumps to get the water from the upper river into the reservoir, electricity demands at night are way lower so the surplus is used for those pumps.

  2. Comment Hidden

    Same, we took to London Ontario and my friends took me there at around 11 PM. We ended up somehow getting and Airbnb and booze and boston pizza for the night. Good times

  3. Comment Hidden

    Well actually while not completely shut off, it does get reduced flow at night. During the tourist season it gets 100,000 cubic feet per second, and at night and during winter it gets 50,000 cubic feet per second.