KALAMAZOO, Mich. — In an effort to enhance water and wastewater reliability, the city of Kalamazoo has announced a five year plan that includes the replacement of old pipes and hydrants. While these improvements will result in an increase in water and wastewater bills for residents, city officials say these are necessary upgrades.
"As a regional water utility, our water bills are the funding that we use as a water system to pay for all the operations and maintenance, as well as all the capital improvements that we make," City Public Services Director James Baker said.
Right now, Kalamazoo has approximately 840 miles of pipes, with more than 300 miles of pipes being more than 100 years old. Baker says a lot of those pipes are due for replacement.
"We've got many different individual projects, but they all align with a five year plan to really focus on improvements in water quality improvements, and system reliability, and improvements and system resiliency," he told FOX 17.
The plan includes improvement projects on Whites Road and Westnedge Avenue.
"From the water system, we're taking some big strides and lead service line replacement. We've got over 1,000 lead service line replacements planned for Northside in 2024, and we've got over 1,600 lead service line replacements planned for Edison in 2024 and 2025," Baker added.
And the work doesn't stop there. The plan will also implement a system that prevents corrosion, protects pipes and lowers the amount of iron in the water.
"We're going to be focusing on placing generators at every water tower, every one of our radio stations, at every lift station and every one of our drinking water plants," he said.
To keep the improvements going, residents should expect an annual increase in their bills for the next five years. Baker estimates that water rates will see an increase in the range of six-to-eight percent, while wastewater rates will experience a rise of 12-to-15 percent.
Baker says there are payment assistant programs that families0 can sign up for by calling 311.
The five year plan is expected to begin next year.
