A few weeks ago, we wondered about the presence of electricity meters placed randomly around the city, measuring power consumption for, well, something or other. We'd grown so perplexed by these meters that we felt compelled to ask Toronto Hydro for more information.

The utility went beyond the call of duty by actually sending a supervisor out to examine one of the mystery locations we'd identified. He reported back that the meter on Overlea Boulevard near Don Mills Road (pictured above) is for the City's Works department, and is most likely hooked up to a sump pump in a chamber below street level. The same is probably true of another meter at Kingston Road & Celeste Drive that we'd asked about. This kind of installation is rather common.

So the next time you're wandering the streets and see a random electricity meter with a feed heading underground, you can impress all of your friends with your new-found knowledge.

Photo by Val Dodge.