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Do you see our Water and Sewer vehicles in your neighborhood?

Often when you see Northville Township Water and Sewer vehicles, we are out in the community performing jobs such as upgrades to meter equipment, scouting for water-related issues, customer service or water and sewer line maintenance.  

We conduct meter reading in the months of January, March, May, July, September and November.  

Do you see flags in your yard or neighborhood? 

These colored flags mark utilities, part of the Michigan MISS Dig program.

Why does my water look cloudy?

Drinking water can sometimes appear cloudy or 'milky' when first drawn from the faucet. This is caused by air bubbles in the water. Water in our water mains is pressurized, as it needs to travel a distance to your home. Water under pressure holds more air than water that is not pressurized. Once water comes out of your faucet, the water is no longer under pressure and air rises to the top in the form of bubbles to be released. Tiny air bubbles will rise to the surface and the cloudy appearance will disappear.  

A simple test to make sure that the cloudiness is air, fill a glass and let the water glass stand untouched for a few minutes. If the cloudiness clears from the bottom of the glass upwards, the cloudiness was caused by air. 

Tips for Winter:

Each year the DPW responds to multiple pipe breaks and floods due to frozen pipes.  These breaks will normally occur as weather warms up after the initial single digit temperatures.  Follow these tips to help reduce your risk of damage to your home or business:

How to Prevent Frozen Pipes:

1. Shut off outdoor water sources.  Remove, drain and store hoses used outdoors.  Close inside valves supplying outdoor hose bibs.  Open the outside hose bibs to allow water to drain.  Keep the outside valve open so that any water remaining in the pipe can expand without causing the pipe to break.  Make sure to drain water from swimming pool and water sprinkler supply line.
2. Locate your internal water shut-off valve and be able to turn it off if emergency arises, like a burst or broken pipe.
3. Check around the home for areas where water supply lines are located in unheated areas or alongside exterior walls.  Insulate exposed pipes using blankets, Sytrofoam or swimming noodles.  Keep garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in the garage.  Keep cabinet doors open under sinks to let warmer air reach your pipes.  Add insulation to attics, basements and crawl spaces.  Insulation will maintain higher temperatures in these areas.
4. Keep the heat on if you are away and set the heat to at least 55 degrees, both day and night.
5. When the weather is very cold outside, let the cold-water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes or pipes running alongside an exterior wall.  Running water through the pipe, even at a trickle, helps prevent pipes from freezing.

How to Thaw Frozen Pipes:  If you turn on a faucet and only a trickle of water comes out, suspect a frozen pipe.

1. Keep the faucet open.  As you treat the frozen pipe, water will begin to flow through the frozen area and will help melt ice in the pipe.  Check all other faucets in your home to find out if you have additional frozen pipes. 
2. Apply heat to the section of pipe using an electric heating pad wrapped around the pipe, an electric hair dryer or by wrapping pipes with towels soaked in hot water.  Do NOT use a blowtorch, kerosene or propane heater, or other open flame devices.  Apply heat until full water pressure is restored.
3. Call a licensed plumber, if you are unable to locate the frozen area, if the frozen area is not accessible or if you cannot thaw the pipe.

Sewer Cleaning

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Our Northville Township DPW personnel will be performing sewer main cleaning from spring to fall.  The sanitary sewer lines are cleaned using high performance sewer cleaning equipment.  A cleaning nozzle is propelled from on manhole to the next using water under high pressure.  The nozzle is then pulled back to the starting manhole.  As the nozzle is pulled back, water scours the inside of the sanitary sewer pipe.  Any debris in the pipe is pulled back with the water.  The debris is removed from the manhole with a vacuum unit.  During cleaning of sanitary sewer lines, air occasionally vents into a home through the sanitary sewer service line and ventilation system.  When this happens, water in the toilet bowl can bubble or surge or, in rare instances, splash out of the bowl.  We remind you that the water that could come from this type of incident is from the bowl itself.  Therefore, during the scheduled cleaning period, it would be beneficial to make sure to keep the lid of your toilet bowl down to minimize the water splashing from your toilet. 

Storm Drains and Catch Basins

If you have a drain on your street or in the easement of your property, please clear drains of leaves and other debris. Clogged drains can create water ponding and other drainage issues this time of year.

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Winterizing Irrigation Systems

The failure to properly winterize the irrigation system could be costly and inconvenient to you. 

For Common Area Irrigation Systems:

DPW has performed water shut offs for common area irrigation meters as of Saturday October 11, 2025.  Northville Township highly recommends that homeowners associations or designated contractor remove the water meter and store for the winter.  This prevents any trapped water in the meter or pipe assembly from freezing and breaking the meter.  Homeowners associations will be responsible for the cost of replacing any meter that was improperly winterized.

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