Water & Sewer Services
The Village of Whitehouse reads water meters each month and sends monthly bills for actual water and sewer usage. If you receive a card indicating that an actual reading was not obtained, please complete the information and return to Village Hall.
Bills are mailed on the first weekday of each month and are due on the 15th of the month at 4:30 pm (if the 15th falls on a weekend, the actual due date is printed on your bill). If for any reason you do not receive your monthly bill, please call so that your payment is not late and subject to a 10% penalty. Click here for a copy of the current water and sewer rates:
NOTE: As of January 1, 2014, a $12.01 monthly refuse fee will be added to your water and sewer bill.
Water
In November of 2002, the Village of Whitehouse abandoned the well system and connected to the Lucas County Water System, who, in turn, contracts with the City of Toledo for water.
In an effort to assure the efficient operation, the Water Department will make every effort possible to conduct routine maintenance (flushing and replacing hydrants) on Thursdays only. Keeping that in mind, we suggest you not wash clothes on Thursday as you may experience discolored water for a short period of time. Although the discolored water may be undesirable for washing, it is not harmful to your health.
The use of a private well or point for consumption, watering, or other use is prohibited providing there is a public water line available within two hundred feet (200′) of your property line. Current policy requires that if you reside in a home or business which is served by a well and a public water main is available to you, you must connect to the water main at the time that your well fails. If you are connected to the Village distribution system, you must abandon your old well.
Sewer
The Village of Whitehouse operates its own sanitary sewer system by pumping the sewage through several lift stations to the Regional Pump Station located on Finzel Road where it is then pumped to the Lucas County Wastewater Treatment Plant on Jerome Road.
The owners of all buildings or properties used for human occupancy, employment, recreation, or other purpose, within the Village and abutting on any street, alley or right-of-way in which there is now located, or may in the future be located, a public sanitary sewer, is required to install suitable toilet facilities. Such facilities must be connected to the public sewer within ninety (90) days after date of official notice to do so, provided the public sewer is within one hundred (100) feet of the property line.
If you occupy a home or business which is currently using a septic tank but a sanitary sewer is available; you must connect to the sanitary sewer at the time at which your septic tank or leach field fails or becomes inadequate.
Fats, Oils, and Grease (FOG) Control
A leading cause of sewer blockages across the U.S. is the accumulation of fats, oils and grease (FOG) in the sanitary sewers. The greasy waste enters the sewers through connections from homes, food service establishments, and industrial waste-water discharges.
The blockages cause sanitary sewer overflows into local waterways and backups into basements of nearby homes and businesses. A basic grease blockage service call could cost the Village of Whitehouse hundreds of dollars to respond. If the blockage causes a sewer overflow, the village could face fines for the discharge into the environment. When homeowners have to hire a plumber to remove grease from their sewer service line, rates vary from $125-$169 the first hour for response, with additional charges for more hours and after-hours service calls. Sewer blockages often cause backups into basements, causing loss of property. The maintenance costs associated with the blockages are passed along to all sewer rate payers. These additional costs would be unnecessary if the problem did not exist. Clearly, the prevention of grease into our sewers is the key to solving the problem.
Where does FOG originate?
FOG comes from many different sources. Some of these include:
- Meat fats
- Lard
- Food scraps
- Dressings and sauces
- Baking goods
- Butter and margarine
- Shortening
- Dairy products
How can FOG be prevented?
Here are some easy steps to make sure fats, oils & grease do not make it into our sanitary sewer system
- Never pour grease down sink drains, garbage disposals or into toilets.
- Use a paper towel to clean up the excess grease residue left on pots, pans and utensils. Dispose of this greasy towel into the trash.
- Scrape all food scraps from trays, plates, pots, pans, utensils and any cooking surface into the trash for disposal.
- Talk with your family, friends and neighbors about these easy steps that they can take to help prevent fats, oils and grease from getting into our sanitary sewer system.
Commercial customers can:
- Train your kitchen staff to use the best management practices for cleanup and grease disposal.
- Conspicuously post no grease signs near drains and sinks.
- Recycle waste cooking oil.
- Clean under sink grease traps weekly.
- Clean outdoor grease traps monthly.
- Keep accurate records of grease trap maintenance. Include dates, amounts, disposal methods and service staff.
Together we can reduce the amounts of fats, oils & grease discharged into the sanitary sewer collection system and reduces overall maintenance costs.