Water System

Water Bills

Looking to pay your water bill? Our payment system, GR PayIt will tell you everything you need to know to pay your bill, receive eAlerts, and sign up for paperless billing.

Pay Water Bills

Do you know how to read your water and sewer bill? We’ve created a guide to help you understand all water and sewer charges. 

How to Read your Bill(PDF, 957KB)

Higher Than Expected Bills

Leaks are the most common reason for big spikes in your water cost. The earlier you find and repair the leak, the more money you'll save. You'll also help conserve clean, high quality water.

• Water Leak Detection
• Request a Water Leak Credit

Unpaid Bills

We have resources to help if you can't afford your bill. Just don't wait too long. Unpaid bills eventually become liens on your property.

• Payment Assistance
• Lien Guide

View Your Billing History

You can see current and past water bills online using eServices.

View Water Bills

Start Water Service

You can setup your service online. We'll help you make sure you have everything you need and walk you through the process.

Start Water Service

End Water Service

We can help you shut off water service at your old address.

End Water Service

Learn about the Water System's rich history and how our city has provided clean, dependable water to the community for 150 years.

Learn More

We developed a Water System Strategic Plan for the City of Grand Rapids Water System. The Water System's strategic plan tackles many of the challenges public utilities face nationwide, including aging infrastructure, emerging contaminates, new regulatory requirements, and a decline in a skilled workforce.

When developing our strategic direction, we leveraged our values of respect, self-awareness, equitability, listening, accountability, collaboration, and reliability. We also structured the Strategic Plan around five strategic priorities, which are:

• Customer Experience
• Finance & Business Management
• Asset Management & Capital Planning
• Innovation & Sustainability
• Leadership & Employee Development

As we begin to implement the Strategic Plan, we are committed to tracking and evaluating our progress. This will include close attention to the effectiveness of this plan's strategic priorities, objectives, and ability to make the necessary changes or improvements.

Strategic Plan(PDF, 3MB)

Drinking Water Quality

We are proud of the high-quality and safe drinking water that we provide our customers every day, and we take this responsibility very seriously. Our customers should be confident in the system’s water quality and safety.

Visit the link below for information about the: 

• Water Quality Report
• Water Analysis - What is in your Water? 
• Lead and Copper Sampling Results
• PFAS and Sampling Results

More Info

Treated drinking water from the City’s water filtration plant is lead-free when it leaves the plant. It remains lead-free as it moves through the system. When the drinking water reaches your home, lead particles can enter the drinking water from a lead water service line or the home’s plumbing. Before 1950, it was common for water service lines to be made of lead.

We take measures at the water filtration plant to limit your exposure to lead. We treat the water to prevent lead particles from breaking off a lead water service line or your home’s plumbing. We also test the drinking water for lead at various homes throughout the city every year. 

The State of Michigan requires the city to replace all 23,000 lead service lines by 2041. Typically, this occurs during scheduled road work so that we can replace lead lines more efficiently. 

Visit the link below for information about the:

• Annual Lead Sampling Results
• Lead Line Replacement Program
• Lead Line Map
• Lead Reduction Information
• Water Filter Program

More Info

We use a complex, but transparent, method to determine the rates for the Grand Rapids Water System. Changes to the rates are effective the 1st of each year, after a study, review and approval process. Users, customer communities and the City Commission are all involved in this process.

The Grand Rapids Preliminary 2022 Water and Sewer Rate Study is now available. 

Water & Sewer Rate Study

Use the rate study library to find the past years' rate study results.

View Library

The Utility Advisory Board (UAB) reviews Water System rates, policies, and fees. The UAB then makes recommendations to the Grand Rapids City Commission. The Commission reviews these recommendations and approves and adopts them.

The customer communities listed below have a seat on the UAB. However, there are communities that are not represented on the UAB; instead, they negotiate a contract with the City of Grand Rapids. For more about the UAB, check out the links below.

• UAB Meeting Schedule and Notices
• UAB Documents

Customer Communities

All of our customer communities are represented on the UAB. These are the areas outside the Grand Rapids city limits that our Water System serves. Some of these communities are retail water customers , while others are wholesale water customers.

Ada Township

Wholesale Water and Sewer Customer

Cascade Township

Retail Water and Sewer Customer

City of East Grand Rapids

Wholesale Water and Sewer

City of Kentwood

Retail Water and Sewer

Tallmadge Township

Retail Water and Sewer

City of Walker

Retail Water and Sewer

Wright Township

Retail Sewer

Caledonia

Wholesale Sewer

Other Customer Communities

The customer communities listed below are not represented on the UAB. Instead, these municipalities negotiate a contract with the City of Grand Rapids.

Gaines Township

Wholesale Sewer

Ottawa County

Wholesale Water

The Water Advisory Council (WAC) is a strategic partnership that advises and consults with the Grand Rapids Water System and its community partners to raise public awareness about water quality issues and lead service lines. Visit the link below for more information about the WAC. 

More about the WAC

Grand Rapids Community College, the city of Grand Rapids, and Bay College in Escanaba are teaming up for a project that builds a pipeline to careers in the water and wastewater industry.

The program is supported by a $500,00 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant. GRCC, the city of Grand Rapids, and Bay College will use the grant award to introduce middle and high school students and adult learners from neighborhoods with high unemployment to water and wastewater careers. 

More Info