My Utilities
To learn more about the July 1, 2025, rate adjustments:
CITY RESIDENTS, click here
NON-CITY RESIDENTS, click here
Welcome to the My Utilities Page
This site is your up-to-date resource for all things utility services and billing for City of Grand Ledge customers.
There are two distinct aspects to the City’s utility services and billing: drinking water and sanitary sewer. We have been reliably providing clean, safe drinking water and sanitary sewer services to our customers for decades.
We are committed to providing high-quality drinking water that meets stringent state and federal standards; therefore, our drinking water is safe. As you likely are aware, the water in this region is naturally full of minerals, including calcium and magnesium, which creates hardness.
In an effort to continue providing high-quality drinking water, the existing Iron Removal Plant is being replaced because it’s at the end of its useful life. You can learn more about that project here.
In addition, The State of Michigan is requiring an upgrade and expansion to the Wastewater Treatment Plant that treats sanitary sewer. More on this project can be found here.
Due to the costs associated with expansion and upgrades to the Iron Removal Plant and Wastewater Treatment Plant, both drinking water and sanitary sewer rates are increasing. More on utilities billing can be found here.
The upgrade and expansion of drinking water and sanitary sewer systems will be long-term, multi-generational investments.
Did You Know
Water in Daily Life: In the US, we are lucky to have easy access to some of the safest treated water in the world—just by turning on the tap. We wake up in the morning, take a shower, brush our teeth, grab a cup of coffee, and head out for the day. Water is an important part of our daily lives and we use it for a wide variety of purposes, but do we really understand how much we use?
- The average American family uses more than 300 gallons of water per day at home. Roughly 70 percent of this use occurs indoors.
- Nationally, outdoor water use accounts for 30 percent of household use yet can be much higher in drier parts of the country and in more water-intensive landscapes. For example, the arid West has some of the highest per capita residential water use because of landscape irrigation.
-Learn more from the US Environmental Protection Agency: How We Use Water
FORMS & RESOURCES
- Utility Billing Auto Payment Authorization Form (PDF)
- Utility E-Billing Enrollment Form (PDF)
- Utility Service Account Changes - Name, Address, Etc. (PDF)
- Utility Service Application (PDF)
- Utility Service Disconnection (PDF)
- Utility Service Notice of Dispute Form (PDF)
- Fiscal Year 2026 City of Grand Ledge Water Rate Analysis - Full Water Study
- Fiscal Year 2026 City of Grand Ledge Sewer Rate Analysis - Full Sewer Study
- EPA: Detect and Chase Down Leaks (PDF)
- EPA WaterSense: Take steps each day to save water and protect the environment.
- EPA Help Sheets: Saving water inside and outside your home. A collection of help sheets!
- WaterSense for KIDS!
- Care for MI Drinking Water (State of Michigan)
- EGLE Drinking Water Information
- Michigan's Safe Drinking Water Act
- Grand Ledge Annual Drinking Water Quality Report
My Water
It's important to understand what the "water" provided to your home or business is. Living in the City of Grand Ledge, your home or business is provided with municipal water. It is fully treated and processed before it is sent to your tap. The water is pumped from several municipal wells in the city (similar to a well at someone's home in a township or rural area). It is then treated and delivered to customers. To understand the process, here are some important definitions to understand the collection, treatment, and distribution of municipal (drinking) water:
Step 1: Sourcing the (Drinking) Water
- Municipal Well: Also known as an industrial water well, municipal wells are created by drilling a large hole down into the earth, usually at least 10 inches in diameter, until an aquifer is located that contains enough raw water to meet the consumption needs of the city (and community).
- Aquifer: A body of rock and/or sediment that holds groundwater.
- Groundwater: The word used to describe precipitation that has infiltrated the soil beyond the surface and collected in empty spaces underground.
- Raw Water: This term refers to the water pumped from a well. It is "raw" because it has not been treated to remove impurities for consumption.
Step 2: Treating the Drinking Water
- Iron Removal Plant: After being pumped from a well in the city, water is treated at the Iron Removal Plant. Here raw water cascades over a series of trays while fresh air is drawn into the chamber. This causes iron and manganese to begin to oxidize in a detention tank. The water flows through a special filter that captures and removes tiny particles of oxidized iron and manganese.
- Iron: Iron found in raw water is a naturally occurring element (or mineral). It is one of earth's most plentiful resources. Due to our geographic location and geologic formations, Grand Ledge does have an increased presence of iron in groundwater.
- Manganese: Manganese found in raw water is a naturally occurring element (or mineral). It's often found in soil and rock, and groundwater can dissolve these oxides and transport them into wells.
- Oxidize: When sediment in water oxidizes (combines chemically with oxygen), it turns into a solid form that will no longer dissolve in water. Therefore, minerals must oxidize to be removed from the raw water.
- Phosphate: After particles are oxidized and removed, phosphate (a chemical compound) is added to mitigate naturally corrosive effects of water on plumbing. Phosphate has many benefits, including:
- Preventing metal release: Phosphates prevent the release of metals like lead and copper from water pipes, which can contaminate drinking water.
- Removing scale deposits: Phosphates can remove scale deposits and tuberculation from water distribution systems.
- Stabilizing chlorine: Phosphates can stabilize chlorine disinfectant residuals.
- Controlling iron and manganese: Phosphates can sequester iron and manganese to prevent discolored water.
- Inhibiting corrosion: Phosphates can inhibit corrosion of water mains and plumbing.
- Disinfectant: Disinfectants are used in the water treatment process to assure that a safe supply is delivered to the customer. The most commonly used disinfectant (for decades), and what's used in the City of Grand Ledge, is chlorine.
Step 3: Storing the Drinking Water
- Reservoir: Oxidized, treated, and disinfected water is then stored in a reservoir; in this case our tall white and blue water towers are the reservoirs used to provide time for disinfection and storage of the treated water.
Step 4: Delivering the Drinking Water
- Pumping: High service pumps at the Iron Removal Plant convey the water into the water distribution system - the network of underground piping that delivers safe, treated water to customers' homes and businesses. This is often referred to as the City's "watermains."
- Fluoride: A small amount of fluoride is added to aid in dental health. Fluoride is a natural mineral scientifically proven to prevent tooth decay and strengthen tooth enamel.
Step 5: Using the Drinking Water
- Billing: (Drinking) Water provided to homes and businesses within the city are then billed for water usage (consumption) based on the City's budget (water/sewer fund and rate study) and fee schedule (all approved and adopted by City Council). The fee schedule is comprised of fixed rates and variable rates.
- Fixed Rates: Fixed rates are designed to recover unchanging costs associated with the operation and maintenance (drinking) water and (sanitary sewer) wastewater utilities.
- Variable Rates: Variable rate calculations are based on the amount of (drinking) water and (sanitary sewer) wastewater used.
Step 6: Disposing of the Water
- Wastewater: After consumption, water that goes down our drains (sink, toilet, shower, laundry, etc.), and yes all the solids too - toilet paper, human waste - is collected via our Sanitary Sewer System, and treated at a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).
- Sanitary Sewer System: The network of underground piping that carries wastewater (or our raw-untreated sewage) to the WWTP for processing.
- Wastewater Treatment Plant: Raw sewage or "used" water from homes and businesses is processed using multiple steps to ensure it is clean and safe to release back into a natural body of water. In this case, treated wastewater is released into the Grand River. A WWTP must have the appropriate capacity to process ALL of the sewage created by it's community.
- Raw sewage must be treated to remove solids, harmful contaminants, etc. If untreated sewage is released into our natural bodies of water, it will easily make many species (including us!) sick.
The Utility Billing Department calculates water fees based on usage recorded by meters and bills monthly. The monthly bills you receive capture fees for water usage from two months prior. For example, when you receive a bill the first week of October, it will reflect usage from August. The City adopts a budget each year to support the water/sewer systems in Grand Ledge. The budget must meet the needs of the system, and in return, the rates must support the budget. Every year prior to budget adoption, the Michigan Rural Water Association conducts a rate analysis to ensure monthly utility rates are reasonable and support both short and long-term goals of our water/sewer infrastructure. You can watch the presentation below or click here to read the presentation.
There is no profit from utility bill revenue or rate adjustments; all revenue is spent on the water or sewer systems. Property taxes do not pay for our water system. We can’t take revenue from water bills to pay for a new playground. Likewise, we do not use property tax revenue to pay for water system improvements.
CITY RESIDENTS: Learn more about July 1, 2025, RATE ADJUSTMENTS
For water fees, please refer to the current City Fee Schedule (PDF).
Learn more about July 1, 2024, RATE ADJUSTMENTS
NON-CITY RESIDENTS: CLICK HERE to learn more about the July 1, 2025, (Fiscal Year 2026) water/sewer rate adjustments.
LEARN TO CALCULATE YOUR BILL
How to pay your bill...
Payments are accepted online, in person at City Hall, via mail, or by utilizing the drive-up drop box located on Greenwood Street at City Hall for after-hours payments. Please do not put cash in the drop box.
Click here to pay online
- Online credit card payments are not posted until 9 AM the following morning. The amount due may still appear on the account until payments post.
- Credit card payments are subject to a 3% processing fee (or $2.00 minimum), and e-checks are subject to a flat fee of $3.00.
Factors that can increase or decrease your bill...
- BILLING PERIOD - Located on your bill, the billing period is the actual range of days that you are being billed for water usage. Typically, it is two months behind; for example, at the beginning of November, you will receive a bill for water usage from Sept. 1 - Oct. 1. Sometimes billing periods fluctuate, meaning you could have more or less than 30 days in the billing range.
- WEATHER - Hotter and colder weather can affect the way we consume water in and outside of our households.
- LIFESTYLE CHANGES - New babies, renovation projects, having guests or family stay, health changes, work schedules, using older, less efficient appliances; these otherwise routine life events can affect the frequency at which we use water without seeming obvious.
- NEW METERS - The new smart meters are far more accurate than meters with older technology in many homes; water is now being metered to a tenth of a gallon, which can affect your bill.
Concerns of a leak or high usage?
The installation of new meters means better technology. Hourly usage reports for the previous 30 days can be requested from the Utility Billing Department at no cost. These usage reports can be very helpful when trying to identify leaks in your home or business. Call City Hall at 517-627-2149 to learn more.
IRON REMOVAL PLANT: PROJECT HISTORY & SUMMARY
FOR DETAILED PROJECT INFORMATION, CLICK HERE.
Beginning in 2018, the existing Iron Removal Plant (IRP) that treats our City water supply began to near the end of its useful life. Through numerous presentations, research, cost comparisons, and public input, City Council debated the option to replace the Iron Removal Plant, the cost of connecting to the Lansing Board of Water and Light, the ability to include water softening in the future, the potential changes to water softening options over time, and the possibility of a City “preferred vendor” arrangement for home-based water softening systems.
On November 23, 2020, City Council moved to replace the IRP, which would be designed to add water softening in the future, if determined to be needed. To view a timeline of City Council action, bids, resolutions, and research, click here.
RAW WATER MAIN: PROJECT HISTORY & SUMMARY
FOR DETAILED PROJECT INFORMATION, CLICK HERE.
A new 12-inch raw water main was installed from Well 2 (located at Jaycee Park) to the Iron Removal Plant on Saginaw Hwy. This is an important water system improvement project and is funded through the State of Michigan's Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program. The construction bid was awarded to E.T. MacKenzie on July 10, 2023. The project was completed in 2024.
When I pay my water bill, where does the money go?
The Grand Ledge Water & Sewer Fund is an enterprise fund. An enterprise fund is used to account for the finances and operational costs associated with providing services to the general public on a continuing basis. As a public water provider, the City of Grand Ledge can only charge customers for the associated costs with providing water service; thus the City can only use the revenue for water and sewer expenses.
Can't we just compare rates of neighboring communities?
The City of Grand Ledge is one-of-a-kind; from population and geographic location, to water treatment necessities and the condition of our W/S infrastructure. Every public utility provider has a different set of maintenance and operational goals associated with their service that affect the rates they establish. One provider may treat water for different minerals or compounds in their ground water due to location, while another may have more (or fewer) employees, residents, and water system improvements to make. There are many variables that make service rates different from one community to the next, making it hard to compare them.
Can I see how the City budgets and spends water bill revenue?
Absolutely! Comprehensive information about the Water & Sewer Fund, budget, performance reports, expenditures, and so much more is available online and is all public information. An Independent Auditor, not employed by the City of Grand Ledge, performs financial audits every year to review City financial statements and municipal activities; these annual audit reports are also available online. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FINANCES PAGE
Water Quality
Programs
- Residential and Commercial Cross Connection Control
- Water Meter Change-Out Program (PDF)
- 2023 State of Michigan - Water and Wastewater Improvement Initiatives
- Learn more about WaterSense and what you can do to help make every drop count.
- Learn more about the State of Michigan's Care for MI Drinking Water
Per- & Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)
- PFAS Drinking Water Rules - Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (PDF)
- PFAS Information and FAQs (PDF)
Other
My Wastewater
It's important to understand when "used" water leaves your home from our sinks, showers and tubs, toilets, washing machines, dishwashing machines, and more, it becomes "wastewater." The wastewater is pumped to our Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), located at Fitzgerald Park, and treated to be safe to release back into the environment through the Grand River. To understand the process, here are some important definitions to understand the treatment of your raw sewage known as wastewater:
Step 1: Creating Wastewater
- Wastewater: When residents and businesses use water it goes down a drain. Washing your hands, brushing teeth, using the toilet, etc... all of this "used" water creates raw sewage known as wastewater. It has to be treated to safely be recycled back to nature and our earth.
Step 2: Transporting Wastewater
- Sanitary Sewer System: The network of underground piping that carries wastewater (or our raw-untreated sewage) to the WWTP for processing.
- Wastewater Treatment Plant: Raw sewage or "used" water from homes and businesses is processed using multiple steps to ensure it is clean and safe to release back into a natural body of water. In this case, treated wastewater is released into the Grand River. A WWTP must have the appropriate capacity to process ALL of the sewage created by it's community.
- Raw sewage must be treated to remove solids, harmful contaminants, etc. If untreated sewage is released into our natural bodies of water, it will easily make many species (including us!) sick.
Step 3: Treating Wastewater
- Screening & Pumping: Incoming wastewater passes through screening equipment where objects such as rags (and baby wipes!), wood fragments, plastics, and grease are removed. The material removed is washed and pressed and disposed of in a landfill. The screened wastewater is then pumped to the next step: grit removal.
- Grit Removal: In this step, heavy but fine material such as sand and gravel is removed from the wastewater and then disposed of in a landfill.
- Primary Settling: The remaining lighter material, which will settle, but at a slower rate than step two, is taken out using large circular tanks called clarifiers. The settled material, called primary sludge, is pumped off the bottom and the wastewater exits the tank from the top. Floating debris such as grease is skimmed off the top and sent with the settled material to digesters. In this step, chemicals are also added to remove phosphorus.
- Aeration/Activated Sludge: In this step, the wastewater receives most of its treatment. Through biological degradation, the pollutants are consumed by microorganisms and transformed into cell tissue, water, and nitrogen. The biological activity occurring in this step is very similar to what occurs at the bottom of lakes and rivers, but in these areas the degradation takes years to accomplish.
- Secondary Settling: Large circular tanks called secondary clarifiers allow the treated wastewater to separate from the biology from the aeration tanks at this step, yielding waste known as “effluent”, which is now over 90% treated. The biology (activated sludge) is continuously pumped from the bottom of the clarifiers and returned to the aeration tanks in step four.
- Filtration: The clarified effluent is polished through filtration. The material captured on the surface of the disc filters is periodically backwashed and returned to the head of the plant for treatment again.
- Disinfection: To ensure the treated wastewater is virtually free of bacteria, ultraviolet disinfection is used after the filtration step. The ultraviolet treatment process kills remaining bacteria to adequate levels monitored by Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE).
- Discharge into the Grand River: Treated water passes through the an outfall (or drain) where it joins the Grand River. The water discharged to the river must meet stringent requirements set by Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources. Pollutant removal is maintained at 98% or greater.
The Utility Billing Department calculates wastewater (sanitary sewer) fees based on your water usage recorded by meters. For example, if you used 4,000 gallons of water, your sewer usage is calculated at 4,000 gallons. Your monthly bills capture fees for sewer usage from two months prior. For example, when you receive a bill in the first week of October, it will reflect usage from August. The City adopts a budget each year to support the water/sewer systems in Grand Ledge. The budget must meet the needs of the system, and in return, the rates must support the budget. Every year prior to budget adoption, the Michigan Rural Water Association conducts a rate analysis to ensure monthly utility rates are reasonable and support both short and long-term goals of our water/sewer infrastructure. You can watch the presentation below or click here to read the presentation.
There is no profit from utility bill revenue or rate adjustments; all revenue is spent on the water or sewer systems. Property taxes do not pay for our sewer system. We can’t take revenue from sewer bills to pay for a new playground. Likewise, we do not use property tax revenue to pay for sewer system improvements.
CITY RESIDENTS: Learn more about July 1, 2025, RATE ADJUSTMENTS
- For wastewater (sanitary sewer) fees, please consult the current City Fee Schedule (PDF).
- Learn more about July 1, 2024, RATE ADJUSTMENTS
- LEARN TO CALCULATE YOUR BILL
NON-CITY RESIDENTS: CLICK HERE to learn more about the July 1, 2025 (Fiscal Year 2026) water/sewer rate adjustments.
How to pay your bill...
Payments are accepted online, in person at City Hall, via mail, or by utilizing the drive-up drop box located on Greenwood Street at City Hall for after-hours payments. Please do not put cash in the drop box.
- Online credit card payments are not posted until 9 AM the following morning. The amount due may still appear on the account until payments post.
- Credit card payments are subject to a 3% processing fee (or $2.00 minimum), and e-checks are subject to a flat fee of $3.00.
Factors that can increase or decrease your bill...
- BILLING PERIOD - Located on your bill, the billing period is the actual range of days that you are being billed for water usage. Typically, it is two months behind. For example, at the beginning of November, you will receive a bill for water usage from Sept. 1 - Oct. 1. Sometimes billing periods fluctuate, meaning you could have more or less than 30 days in the billing range.
- WEATHER - Hotter and colder weather can affect the way we consume water in and outside of our households.
- LIFESTYLE CHANGES - New babies, renovation projects, having guests or family stay, health changes, work schedules, using older, less efficient appliances; these otherwise routine life events can affect the frequency at which we use water without seeming obvious.
- NEW METERS - The new smart meters are far more accurate than meters with older technology; water is now being metered to a tenth of a gallon, which can affect your bill.
Concerns of a leak or high usage?
The installation of new meters means better technology. Hourly usage reports for the previous 30 days can be requested from the Utility Billing Department at no cost. These usage reports can be helpful when trying to identify leaks in your home or business. Call City Hall at 517-627-2149 to learn more.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT EXPANSION AND IMPROVEMENTS: PROJECT HISTORY & SUMMARY
FOR DETAILED PROJECT INFORMATION, CLICK HERE.
Expansions and improvements to the WWTP, as mandated by the State of Michigan, are also needed. This project has an anticipated cost of $52.4 million. Our current WWTP capacity and ability is not sufficient to meet state requirements or our community's growth. When the WWTP reaches limitations, raw sewage is disposed into our waterways. This happens in every community exceeding WWTP capacity and is a violation of State of Michigan regulations.
- Rate increases to support WWTP improvements will be reflected on bills this year and in future years.
When I pay my sewer bill, where does the money go?
The Grand Ledge Water & Sewer Fund is an enterprise fund. An enterprise fund is used to account for the finances and operational costs associated with providing services to the general public on a continuing basis. As a public water provider, the City of Grand Ledge can only charge customers for the associated costs with providing water service; thus the City can only use the revenue for water and sewer expenses.
Can't we just compare rates of neighboring communities?
The City of Grand Ledge is one-of-a-kind; from population and geographic location, to water treatment necessities and the condition of our W/S infrastructure. Every public utility provider has a different set of maintenance and operational goals associated with their service that affect the rates they establish. One provider may treat water for different minerals or compounds in their ground water due to location, while another may have more (or fewer) employees, residents, and water system improvements to make. There are many variables that make service rates different from one community to the next, making it hard to compare them.
Can I see how the City budgets and spends water/sewer bill revenue?
Absolutely! Comprehensive information about the Water & Sewer Fund, budget, performance reports, expenditures, and so much more is available online and is all public information. An Independent Auditor, not employed by the City of Grand Ledge, performs financial audits every year to review City financial statements and municipal activities; these annual audit reports are also available online. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FINANCES PAGE
- Should I buy bottled water?
- How much money can I save by drinking tap water?
- Do I need to purchase a filtered water treatment device to make my tap water safe?
- Do I need a water softener?
- Why does my tap water look cloudy?
- Is it okay to drink the water when it looks cloudy?
- Why are there particles in my water?
- Why does the tap water smell funny sometimes?
- What if my water appears discolored?
- I think there is something wrong with my water meter. What should I do?
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Utility Billing
Physical Address
310 Greenwood Street
Grand Ledge, MI 48837
Phone: 517-627-2149Emergency Phone: 888-220-9131
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Dana Hengesbach
Utility Billing Clerk
Water and Sewer Rate Analysis Video
On May 12, 2025, the Michigan Rural Water Association presented a rate analysis to ensure monthly utility rates are reasonable and support both short and long-term goals of our water and sewer infrastructure. You can watch the video below and view the presentation. You may also view the water rate study or the sewer rate study.