The City of Auburn Hills Sewer system is entirely separate sanitary and storm system.  The home or business owner is responsible for all maintenance repair or replacement of the building service to the public sanitary sewer. SEWER BACK-UP If you discover a back up of the sewer system you should contact the Water and Sewer Department at (248) 391-3777 immediately. After regular business hours, call the Auburn Hill’s Police Department's business phone at (248) 370-9444. The City will check the sewer main to see if the back up is caused by something beyond your building service connection. TO MAKE A CLAIM ON A SEWER BACK-UP Notice: Any Citizen having experienced an overflow or back up of a sewage disposal system or storm water system and believes they have a right to a claim due to known negligence on the City’s part must file a written claim with the City of Auburn Hills within 45 days after the overflow or back up was discovered or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have been discovered. Notice of your claim must be given to Ron Melchert, Manager of Public Utilities at City of Auburn Hills, 1500 Brown Road, Auburn Hills, MI  48326; the phone number is (248) 391-3777. Your claim must contain the following information: Your name, address, telephone number and address of affected property; The date of discovery of any property damages or physical injuries; A brief description of the claim             (Claim Form) – hyperlink to Sewage Disposal Claim form After the City is notified of your claim and believes that a different or additional government agency is responsible for your claim, the City has 15 business days after receipt to notify the other agency. Within 45 days of receipt of your claim, the government agency(s) involved may inspect your property or investigate your claim. The claimant or owner or occupant of the affected property shall not reasonably refuse the government agency the right to inspect or investigate the property or the claim. If government agency(s) and claimant cannot reach a compensation agreement within 45 days of the notice, claimant may start a civil action against the government agency. Please remember not to dump gasoline, oil, antifreeze, or any other hazard materials down storm drains, because they eventually end up in the lake or river where our drinking water comes from, or in a combined system they could enter someone's basement during a back up.   FLOODED STREETS There are a number of things you can do to reduce the likelihood of localized flooding in your neighborhood. Here are the most important preventive measures: Keep your storm drain grates clean. Be careful not to cover storm drain grates with debris when you use leaf blowers or do other yard work. A pile of leaves left in the gutter can easily wash into storm drains during rains. Good housekeeping during dry weather does a lot to keep our stormwater drainage system running smoothly during rainy weather. Help elderly or disabled neighbors. If any of your neighbors are elderly or disabled, they may not be able to sweep their own storm drain grates. While you're cleaning your storm drain grate, why not give neighbors a helping hand? Leave sewer maintenance hole covers in place, and report any uncovered maintenance holes that you see. During heavy rains, people sometimes remove sewer maintenance hole (manhole) covers in the mistaken belief that this will help storm water drain away faster. Wrong! Open sewers access presents a hazard for children and, during heavy rains can cause sewage to back up onto your street. Remember that, when especially heavy rains fill storm drains to capacity, the drainage system is intentionally designed to overflow into streets. This is to help alleviate basement flooding.   WATER BILLS   The water bill is based on the size of the water meter that is at each premise, plus a charge for the water used. Consumption charges are based on units of water used. One unit of water is 100 cubic feet, which is equivalent to 748 gallons.   Our water-billing department generates estimates if an actual reading cannot be obtained for your address.  The meter readers make every attempt to obtain a actual reading, specifically if there have been several months of averages. If you have any questions regarding your bill please call our Water Billing Department at (248) 364-3927. DELINQUENT WATER BILLS Water account balances 90 days or more as of May 1 of each year, will become a lien on the property and will be added to the next winter property tax bill.  A minimum of $25 past due will be transferred and a transfer fee added to the winter property tax bill. FINAL READINGS Only Water Department personnel take final readings. To assure you get your final bill in time for your closing date you will need to call and schedule a final reading appointment 48 hours before your closing. We will need access to your premise to read the water meter inside. You will then be able to pickup your final bill at the Treasurer’s office at City Hall the next business day or have it mailed to you. LEAKS ON PREMISES On premises leaks are our biggest contributors of high bill complaints. The majority of leaks that are undetected come from a leaking toilet. Toilet leaks are caused by faulty parts or worn flapper and indicated by the need to jiggle the handle. The best way to check for toilet leaks is to do a physical inspection of the toilet tank. Start by removing the tank lid and checking the water level. There should be a line marked on the back of the tank to indicate the correct level or it should be 1 inch below the overflow tube. The small refill tube should be positioned above the overflow tube and not inserted down into the overflow tube, due to the fact it could start a siphoning action. Check the flapper in the bottom of the tank if it is hard or you get a residue on your hand it needs to be replaced. When replacing the flapper make sure you clean the seat which the flapper makes contact with, before installing the new flapper. There are two other ways to check for a leaky toilet. The first is by placing a few drops of food coloring into the tank and waiting about 15 minutes. If the food coloring seeps into the bowl, the tank is leaking and should be fixed. The second is to use a piece of tape, a pen and your water meter. Start by going to the water meter; next put the tape next to the one cubic foot dial - be sure you can see the needle or the triangle. Put a mark on the tape across from the needle or triangle; then wait at least 3 hours or longer and be sure not to use any water during this time.  If you use the water, the needle or triangle will move. If the needle or the triangle has moved off the mark, you have a leak. If you happen to have a meter with a black triangle to the left of one cubic foot dial, that is a low flow indicator dial, if it is moving when no one is using water it is an indication of a leak. Any unused toilets on the premise should be turned off to avoid any unknown leak. MAIN BREAKS If you detect a water main break which does not have a barricade unit on or by it, please call the Auburn Hills Water and Sewer Department at (248) 391-3777 between the hours of 7:00 am – 5:00 pm, Monday – Friday. After hours please call the Auburn Hills Police Department at (248) 370-9444 so they can call the appropriate person. DO NOT APPROACH A WATER MAIN BREAK SITE. HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS COULD EXIST SUCH AS MISSING PAVEMENT OR UNSTABLE GROUND. Once we receive notification of a water main break a crew is sent to ascertain the severity of the break, set up a barricade and possibly locate the break at that time. Before the repair can be made Miss Dig needs to be called. This ensures us that the work area is staked out by other utilities providing us with a safe work site. The severity and safety prioritize water main breaks. Should your water become brown or rusty for any reason, please refrain from drinking it.  Try to keep your usage down to a minimum, because the more you use, the longer it will take to clear up in the home or business.  The brown water is due to a disturbance of the sediment in the bottom of the water main.  This condition should clear itself once the water main is repaired and flushed clear.  Flushing your plumbing may be required to remove residuals that are present there.  If this condition is extended, please call us at (248) 391-3777.