Where is my water meter located?
Inside your house. Why inside? So it doesn’t freeze during the cold winter months. Where inside? Each house is different…if you have a basement, the meter will be somewhere in the basement. It will likely, but not always, be in or near the utility room. If you do not have a basement but instead have a crawl space, it is probably in your crawl space. If you do not have a basement or a crawl space, it will be on your main floor, probably near your water heater.
Where do I pay my water bill?
ALL billing gets done through the township that you live in. If you have any billing questions, you need to contact that township. BGUA reads the meter and the townships send out the bill.
- Gaines Charter Township: 616-433-2916
- Byron Township: 616-878-0660
If you live in a Mobile Home Park community, billing is done through the mobile home park office. Each Mobile Home Park within Byron Township and Gaines Charter Township has a master water meter where the water enters the park. Parks are billed by the township from that master meter. Residents of the park are billed by the park office.
Why would you need to come inside my house?
There are a couple of reasons that we may need to get inside your house. If there was any type of malfunction with your water meter we would need to come inside to investigate and fix or exchange the water meter. If the reading device that we use to read your water meter is inside your home and isn’t giving us the information we need, we would need to come inside to investigate why it isn’t working properly. If your meter is old and we needed to exchange it with a new one, that would also require us getting into your home.
Any time we need to get into your home, you would be notified by either a door tag/ hanger or a letter in the mail. The door tag or letter will ask you to call our office to set up a specific appointment for us to enter the home.
Why would you be digging in my yard?
Every house and business connected to the public water supply has a water shut off in their yard/property. If we were looking for that shut off and couldn’t find it, we would need to dig to find it and then raise it to the grade of the yard.
How do I shut off the water to my house?
Down by your water meter, there should be a valve before and a valve after the water meter. Either of these valves, when turned off, would shut the water off from that point. If for some reason those valves were not working and you needed the water shut off, you could call us to shut the water off at the stop box – a valve located in your yard. Please note that there could be a fee from the township for the BGUA to come out and turn the water on/off at the stop box.
What township do I live in?
Gaines Charter Township boundaries: 60th St (the south side of the road) to 108th St and Division (the east side of the road) to Patterson.
Byron Township boundaries: 60th St (the south side of the road) to 108th St and Division (the west side of the road) to Kenowa Ave.
What does my water meter look like?
We have a couple different types of meters currently in our system. One is made of brass and the other is made of a composite plastic. Below is a picture of each type.
I have a plumbing leak, who do I call?
If you have a plumbing leak in your home/business, you will need to call a plumber to help you fix the leak. If the leak is happening at the water meter you would call the BGUA. If you need the water shut off at the stop box for a plumbing repair, you would call the BGUA.
Why are there blue flags in my yard?
There is this notification system called Miss Dig – a process of notification to utilities companies to let them know when digging will take place in a certain location. A utility company then goes to that location and mark their utilities (ex: gas, electric, cable, water, sewer). When we get those notifications, we go and mark any water related things in that area (water main, water main valves, hydrants and hydrant valves, stop boxes) with blue paint and/or blue flags. We also mark sewer (sewer main and sewer connections) with green flags and/or green paint.
Where can I get a plumbing permit?
All permits (water, plumbing etc.) are issued by the township that you live in.
- Gaines Charter Township: 616-438-9076 or gainestownship.org
- Byron Township: 616-878-9066 or byrontownship.org
Can I use a hydrant to fill my pool?
Hydrant use is very limited. A permit is required (permits for hydrant use are issued at the BGUA) – Hydrant Use Permit Form. Hydrant Permit 2022 There is special equipment needed for hooking up to the hydrant and which hydrants we allow for usage is limited. It is best to contact the BGUA office (616-971-0002) for more information on hydrant use.
Who do I contact about a water quality concern?
If you live in Byron Township or Gaines Charter Township and have a water quality concern, please call our office 616-971-0002.
If you live in a Mobile Home Park Community and have a water quality concern, you need to contact your Park Manager.