Reduce Your Water Bill

Reducing your water bill comes down to water consumption and water loss.

Reducing your water bill is both a collaborative and individual effort. The city does its best to help reduce water customers' costs by tempering water consumption and decreasing water loss.

Water Consumption

Our Water Services Contract with GLWA includes two ordinances designed to help the city regulate its peak-hour water consumption to the lowest possible rates from GLWA.

First, the city will restrict water consumption during a water supply emergency (Sec. 44-13). Second, a lawn ordinance restricts irrigation to even/odd-numbered days for even/odd-numbered houses, cutting water usage in half (Sec. 44-14).

Following these ordinances can significantly save the city and residents money on water bills.

The Water Department also operates a four-million-gallon water storage reservoir on 10 Mile Road. This storage tank allows the city to purchase water from the GLWA at a lower cost during low-demand hours and store it. During high-demand hours, we distribute this water to our water customers at a lower rate. This operation has lowered our peak hourly demand from GLWA, resulting in an annual savings of $940,000.

The tank operation also regulates the water pressure throughout the distribution system. Decreased pressure variations have helped to reduce the number of water main breaks and decrease water loss.

Water Loss

The water we purchase from GLWA has miles of service lines to go through before it reaches your home or business. During this journey, it passes through a metering system similar to what you have in your home or business that determines how much water is lost during the process.

Over the last ten years, our water loss has decreased from over 20% to less than 10%. We've accomplished this through leak detection and maintenance.

The main source of water loss is leaks. As stated above, our water system is over 80 years old and requires constant maintenance to meet growing demand. The St. Clair Shores Department of Public Works continually and successfully works toward reducing water loss numbers to decrease prices and leak detection remains one of our top priorities. A Water Department employee "listens" to the water system with electronic listening devices to monitor the system and find leaks during the low consumption period.

We continually maintain valves and hydrants, replacing seals, nuts, and bolts. Whenever possible, we replace old, worn-out, stopped, or slow-reading water meters with new state-of-the-art meters that are more accurate and can electronically alert the Water Department of a leak.

What You Can Do

Obeying city water ordinances is a big way to help cut down on everyone's water bill. Only watering your lawn on an even or odd day (based on your house number) helps reduce water usage during peak hours.

Fixing household leaks can dramatically cut down on your water usage. You can test for leaks by checking your water meter, waiting two hours without using any water and checking again. If the number has changed, you most likely have a leak.

Replacing older, inefficient water fixtures and appliances can also cut down on the amount of water you use. You can find more cost-saving information on the EPA's website.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.