Lansing public water system guide

A Lansing mailing address does not establish the water provider. Check the water portion of your bill, or ask the landlord or property manager if water is included in rent. BWL also provides other utility services, so an electric account alone does not confirm a BWL water connection. For an address-specific answer, contact BWL customer service at 517-702-6006 and ask who operates the water account and which public water system supplies it.

BWL’s water-service Rule 3.2 covers Lansing and several surrounding governmental jurisdictions, with surrounding service governed by contracts. Service may be impractical at particular properties; connections across another owner’s parcel can require an existing easement. BWL determines the supplying main when more than one main could serve a property. These are service-availability rules, not a property-level boundary map.

The 2025 report distinguishes 166,000 people served directly and 40,450 people served wholesale. Its 2021 report identifies Delta Township and Westside Water in its discussion of distribution to wholesale customers. A purchasing utility can have its own system, distribution monitoring and customer notices. Use the provider named on your water bill to find those local records rather than treating BWL’s plant results as the whole account history.

BWL water-service rules, Rule 3.2, printed page 73, approved July 22, 2025 and effective October 1, 2025; 2025 report, page 3; 2021 report, page 2; BWL contact information.

BWL’s 2025 report describes 112 groundwater wells, approximately 400 feet deep, drawing from the Saginaw Aquifer. Transmission mains carry the water to two conditioning plants. This is the utility’s reported supply, not an address-level confirmation: check the provider on your water bill before using these results for your home.

The report describes protective clay and shale layers, but also areas where water can enter the aquifer without that protection. It attributes a high susceptibility finding to the state’s 2003 source-water assessment. Susceptibility describes the potential for contamination; it is not a measured contaminant result or a finding about today’s tap water.

BWL supports regional wellhead protection and describes a USGS groundwater model supported through a state-administered grant. Residents can help protect recharge areas by using appropriate disposal services for fuel, paint, pesticides and medicines instead of pouring them on the ground or down drains.

To request the local source-water assessment, the report directs readers to BWL’s Water Quality Administrator at 517-702-7059.

2025 BWL report, page 4. The report was issued April 1, 2026; the assessment dates to 2003.

The 2025 report says the plants remove about 80% of the incoming hardness. Water is then disinfected, fluoridated, treated for corrosion control, filtered and stored in reservoirs before distribution. Treatment-process descriptions explain the system; they do not predict conditions at an individual faucet.

Hardness after conditioning

The typical-analysis table prints a typical concentration of 98 PPM as CaCO3 and a range of 89–120 PPM. These are typical conditioned-water observations, not a household test or a safety rating.

Disinfectant residual

The 2025 chloramines row prints 2.0 PPM, range 0.50–2.8 PPM, with an MRDL and MRDLG of 4 PPM. A disinfectant residual and its byproducts are different measurements.

Fluoride

The report lists 0.72 PPM, range 0.64–0.72 PPM, dated 07/01/24. Its older water sampling date remains visible even though it appears in the 2025 report.

Corrosion-control context

The process description states that corrosion control is used. The typical-analysis table separately lists orthophosphate (as P), typical concentration 0.35 PPM, range 0.20–0.50 PPM, and pH 9.4, range 9.1–9.8. Those observations do not establish the regulator’s approved operating targets.

BWL’s undated water FAQ gives a different approximate softening figure: 85%, compared with about 80% in the 2025 annual report. The FAQ reports remaining hardness of about 98 mg/L or 5.7 grains per gallon and says hardness can rise during summer demand. These descriptions are attributed separately; the difference is not silently reconciled. Read BWL’s water FAQ.

The report notes that starred typical-analysis parameters tend toward the high end of their ranges during June, July and August high-demand periods. This is seasonal context, not a current change in source or treatment.

2025 report, pages 4 and 6–8. Printed dates, units and historical criteria are retained.

The 2025 annual report combines several monitoring periods. Lead and copper results are from 2023; four unregulated-contaminant rows describe March and August 2020; lithium describes February and August 2024. Comparing these as if they were simultaneous water samples would be misleading.

The microbial table records two total-coliform detections and zero E. coli detections for January 1–December 31, 2025. Both rows print “No” for L1 Assessment Triggered?, L2 Assessment Triggered? and Violation?. These are the report’s dated row fields, not a current notice determination.

The lead table prints a 90th-percentile result of 0 PPB, range 0–3 PPB, and zero water samples above its printed action level. Copper is 0.0 PPM, range 0.0–0.0 PPM, also with zero water samples above the printed action level. These system water sampling statistics do not establish the lead content of a particular home’s plumbing or water.

The report’s PFAS passage is a grouped no-detection narrative, not a table of individual analyte results. Its 1,4-dioxane passage describes a trace-level finding in 2015. Neither passage is expanded into invented water sample rows or a statement about current conditions.

Two printed details need particular care: the HAA5 result of 3.0 PPB is paired with a range ending at 2.7 PPB; the radium entry reads 1.35+0.93 Wise WCP*. These remain as printed rather than being silently corrected or combined.

2025 report, pages 5–8. Issued April 1, 2026; checked September 17, 2026.

BWL reports that its lead-service-line replacement project ran from 2004 through December 2016, removed 12,150 active lead service lines and cost $44.5 million. The utility says it owns the connection from the water main to the meter and replaced that connection at homes and businesses.

Replacement history and an inventory check are different evidence. BWL’s lead-information page says it verified materials at nearly 400 randomly selected homes and businesses by October 16, 2024. It reports no remaining lead, galvanized-requiring-replacement or lead-status-unknown service lines after those verifications. This is BWL’s system-level statement, not an independent inspection of your address.

Household plumbing and fixtures remain separate from the service line. For a property-specific material question, give BWL your service address and ask for the inventory record and its verification method. The 2025 report directs customers seeking lead-testing resources to [email protected]; it does not establish a free testing offer or a fixed laboratory fee.

BWL lead information, checked September 17, 2026; 2025 report, pages 10–11. The lead page describes 2026 water sampling as scheduled; a schedule is not a completed result.

BWL’s water-service overview names the John F. Dye Water Conditioning Plant and the Wise Road Conditioning Plant. It describes more than 58,000 residential, business and industrial water customers and more than 800 miles of underground mains in greater Lansing. Customer accounts, residents served and miles of pipe are different measures.

The annual report and later rate booklet describe the network at different times. The 2025 water-quality report lists 112 wells. The fiscal-year 2026–2027 rate booklet, effective October 1, 2026, lists 124 wells, 834 miles of mains, 166,000 people served, a separate wholesale population of 40,450 and average use of 19.2 million gallons per day. The booklet does not explain the difference in well counts; these dated descriptions are retained separately.

A wholesale population does not identify each purchasing utility or establish which supplier serves a home. Use BWL’s service account or customer-service team to confirm an address, especially near municipal boundaries.

BWL water-service overview; 2026–2027 rate booklet, printed page 133. Checked September 17, 2026. Planned or budgeted infrastructure is not described here as completed construction.

Lansing Township tower and main replacement

The 2025 report says construction of the new Lansing Township water tower was completed and describes bringing it into service as the next step. It identifies reliability and redundancy as the project’s purpose. Construction completion does not establish a commissioning date, operating capacity or current service status; those details need the project’s operating records.

The 2020 report says BWL replaced approximately 8,010 feet (1.5 miles) of mains during 2020 and planned approximately 18,900 feet (3.5 miles) for 2021. The planned quantity is not recorded here as completed work. The 2025 report describes an increased replacement pace toward a long-term goal without providing a completed-footage total in that passage.

2020 report, page 2; 2025 report, page 2.

Discolored water, pressure changes or a water-main break

Call 517-702-6490. BWL lists this water-quality line separately from its power-outage number. For current alerts and instructions, check the official outage and alert center; the existence of this link does not mean an alert is active.

Water reports, assessment records and testing resources

Contact the Water Quality Administrator at 517-702-7059 or [email protected]. When asking about testing, specify the concern and ask about eligibility, laboratory arrangements, cost and water sampling instructions before collecting a water sample.

Billing, account service and payment arrangements

Call 517-702-6006, Monday–Friday, 7 a.m.–5 p.m., excluding holidays. The customer-service payment lobby at 1232 Haco Drive, Lansing, MI 48912 is listed as open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Written customer-service inquiries

[email protected]. BWL says these messages are monitored during business hours and replies may take up to three business days. Use the water-quality phone line for an immediate concern. Ask customer service about an accessible or translated report format; specific available formats have not been verified.

BWL contact directory, checked September 17, 2026; 2025 report, pages 11–12. Hours and assistance availability can change.

BWL’s W01 residential rate combines a monthly charge based on meter size and a usage charge measured in CCF. One CCF is 100 cubic feet, or 748 gallons. The rate applies to a single-family dwelling or a multifamily dwelling of four units or fewer served by one premises. Commercial, industrial and resale use have separate conditions and schedules.

The October 1, 2026 schedule is future-effective as of this September 17 review. Keep it separate from the October 1, 2025 schedule when checking a bill. These figures exclude applicable riders, surcharges, taxes and other fees; they are not a final bill estimate.

For a 5/8- or 3/4-inch residential meter, the October 2025 basic charge is $17.86 per month, plus $4.23 per CCF for the first 2 CCF and $7.25 per CCF above that. From October 1, 2026, the published figures are $18.64, $4.28 and $7.34 respectively. Compare all meter sizes, other service schedules and material billing notes.

BWL offers flexible payment arrangements for customers with low incomes, families with active military members and customers age 65 or older. Call 517-702-6006 before falling behind to discuss the account and available arrangements. Its assistance page links community partners and 2-1-1; it does not promise a fixed water-assistance award.

Some programs on BWL’s combined utility-assistance page concern electricity specifically, including the medical-equipment form. Do not assume those provisions apply to water service. Ask which charges and services a proposed arrangement covers.

BWL payment arrangements and community resources; residential and business water schedules. Reviewed September 17, 2026.

BWL’s 2025 report directs customers concerned about lead and interested in testing to [email protected] for available resources. It does not promise a free kit, a fixed price or a particular turnaround time. Ask which testing option fits the concern, who analyzes the water sample, what collection instructions and bottles are required, and what fees apply before collecting water.

A system-wide 90th percentile or treatment-plant water sample does not answer whether a particular fixture contains lead. Identify the building, faucet and concern when contacting BWL, and follow the testing provider’s collection instructions so the result can be interpreted correctly. If you rent, ask the landlord or property manager about plumbing and service-line records as well.

If the report’s language or PDF format prevents you from using it, contact the same water-quality team or call 517-702-7059. Specify the report year, language and format you need, such as accessible digital text or a printed copy. The reviewed BWL pages do not establish which translated or alternative formats are guaranteed, so this is a request route rather than a promise of availability.

BWL 2025 report, pages 11–12; BWL contact options; EPA lead and drinking-water information.

BWL’s governance page identifies eight voting commissioners representing the City of Lansing. Their role is utility governance; water-quality questions and service emergencies have separate contacts.

BWL is a publicly owned utility established in 1885 after Lansing voters approved funding for fire protection, sanitation and street lighting. Its Board of Commissioners holds open meetings. The 2025 report describes a usual schedule of the fourth Tuesday of every other month at the REO Town Depot, 1201 S. Washington Avenue, Lansing. Check the published notice for the actual date, time, location and participation arrangements before attending; special meetings and hearings also appear on the calendar.

The official meeting archive provides public notices, agendas and packets. Use the packet to identify the proposed water rate, capital project or policy and prepare a specific question. For meeting details, call 517-702-6006. For water-quality evidence or report results, contact [email protected] or 517-702-7059.

BWL meeting notices and packets; Board of Commissioners; 2025 report, pages 2–3 and 12.

Water emergencies and current notices

BWL’s Outage Center lists 517-702-6490 for water emergencies and has a current-alert section. Its outage map and restoration estimates are described as power information; do not use an electric-outage map to establish whether a water advisory applies to your address. Check the actual notice and call the water line when its boundaries or instructions are unclear.

Water-service Rule 3.1 permits BWL to interrupt, curtail or suspend service, including without prior notice when needed to protect health, safety, welfare or distribution-system reliability. That authority is not a finding that a drought stage or restriction is currently active. Use the current official alert for applicable dates and instructions.

BWL current alerts and water-emergency contact; water-service Rule 3.1; utility governance.

School flushing and fixture testing

The 2024 report describes a Lansing Schools partnership with student Water Safety Captains and a 30-second morning flushing routine. The 2025 report says the Drinking Water School Flushing Program was completed. Those descriptions document the program; they do not publish school-by-school or fixture-by-fixture test results or establish current conditions at a particular drinking fountain. Ask the school or BWL for the relevant building’s water sampling dates, fixture identifiers and results.

2024 report, page 9; 2025 report, page 2.

BWL’s published archive contains annual reports for 2020–2025. Report years and water sampling years differ: the 2021 and 2022 reports repeat 2020 lead and copper water sampling; the 2024 and 2025 reports repeat 2023 water sampling. Older unregulated-contaminant results also recur. Repeated publication does not establish a new test or a trend.

A monitoring notice in the 2020 report

The report records a TTHM monitoring violation for May 1–31, 2020. Its table lists two required water samples per three months and zero water samples taken. The accompanying explanation says water samples were collected but were not analyzed within the required holding time; subsequent water samples were collected in August. This is a monitoring issue, not a reported TTHM concentration above its limit. The notice’s “not an emergency” and no-action statements describe that historical notice, not present conditions.

2020 report, page 7: monitoring table and explanation.

Lead water sampling needs both the percentile and the range

The 2020 lead results show a 90th percentile of 2 PPB, a range of 0–18 PPB and one water sample above the printed 15 PPB action level. The report says one of 51 homes measured 18 PPB; a new water heater had been installed the preceding day and, according to BWL, might have dislodged a particle. A resample measured 2 PPB. The report gives 0–2.2 PPB for the other homes. That explanation is attributed to BWL; it does not establish the cause or describe an individual home today.

The 2023 water sampling subsequently reported a 90th percentile of 0 PPB, a range of 0–3 PPB and zero water samples above the printed action level. Those statistics do not mean every household has zero lead.

2020 report, page 7; 2023 report, page 7.

Keep source differences visible

The 2022 radium table prints “0.840.51” in its highest-result cell and “0.84+0.51 (Wise WCP)*” in its range cell. These are preserved separately below. The accompanying note says no radium was detected at Dye WCP in July 2022. The 2023 treatment narrative describes about 80% hardness removal while its process diagram says 85%; these are different descriptions in the same report, not interchangeable measurements.

2022 report, printed pages 6–7; 2023 report, pages 4 and 9.

The Erickson investigation concerns a different groundwater context

The 2021 report discusses BWL’s investigation of groundwater impacts associated with coal-ash impoundments at Erickson Power Station. It says initial testing found elevated boron outside the property line and describes work to determine its source, noting that boron can occur naturally and can be associated with coal ash. The same letter states that water produced and distributed by BWL, including Delta Township and Westside Water, did not have elevated boron. These are attributed statements from that report; the environmental investigation is not a drinking-water sample row or a current determination about the site or a household tap.

2021 report, page 2: Erickson groundwater investigation and distribution-system distinction.

Two plants, two water sampling dates in 2024

EPA’s July 2026 UCMR 5 release contains 120 records for MI0003760: 29 PFAS analytes and lithium at Dye Plant and Wise Rd. Plant on February 5 and August 8, 2024. All 116 PFAS records are reported below their analyte-specific minimum reporting levels. Lithium is not PFAS: three lithium results are numerical detections and the fourth is below its 9 µg/L reporting level.

The numerical lithium results are 14.8 µg/L at Wise Rd. Plant and 19.6 µg/L at Dye Plant on February 5, and 9.69 µg/L at Dye Plant on August 8. Wise Rd. Plant’s August result is “< 9 µg/L” in this extract. BWL’s annual-report table instead gives a 6.16–19.6 PPB range and 12.56 PPB average. PPB and µg/L are equivalent here, but the lower value is not independently reproduced as a numerical result in EPA’s public extract. Both source representations remain visible.

UCMR results do not establish compliance or noncompliance with drinking-water limits. A minimum reporting level describes reporting capability, not a health threshold. These entry-point water samples do not describe an individual household’s water today.

EPA UCMR occurrence data, July 2026 release, filtered by MI0003760; BWL 2025 report, page 7. Retrieved September 17, 2026.

Michigan’s earlier statewide survey

Michigan’s statewide survey workbook identifies Lansing Board of Water & Light as WSSN 3760. It includes two treated-water samples collected July 27, 2018, at locations TP001 and TP002, using method EPA-537. Each water sample has 14 analytes flagged “U,*”. Michigan defines U as not detected with a null result displayed and * as a result value that has not been verified. Both qualifiers must travel with these records. Another 14 analyte columns have both result and flag blank; those blanks are not additional nondetect findings.

These records are historical, separate from the annual reports’ grouped PFAS statements and later unregulated monitoring. The workbook reports concentrations in parts per trillion (ppt, equivalent to ng/L), but these two rows do not provide numerical reporting limits. A nondetect flag does not establish a zero concentration or a result below today’s standard.

Michigan statewide PFAS survey: workbook, definitions and data flags. Retrieved September 17, 2026. The source page’s 70-ppt advisory discussion describes the historical survey decision framework, not a current regulatory limit.

BWL’s separate PFOS/PFOA summary through July 2025

The utility’s PFAS fact sheet summarizes combined PFOS and PFOA for both plants across 12 listed monitoring periods from 2015 through July 2025. Every cell is labeled Non-Detect. Its reporting-limit column changes from 60 ppt for the combined February/August 2015 entry to 2 ppt for later entries. This two-chemical summary is not a substitute for the 29-analyte UCMR records above or their individual reporting levels.

The fact sheet distinguishes reports of PFAS in shallow groundwater near Adams Plating and RACER Trust sites from BWL’s deeper Saginaw Aquifer supply. That distinction supplies local context; depth alone is not proof that a source cannot be affected. The sheet’s general MCL explanation is not adopted as a no-harm guarantee.

BWL PFAS fact sheet, both pages, linked from its emerging-contaminants page and retrieved September 17, 2026.

BWL’s updated dioxane fact sheet extends beyond the annual-report summary. Its 42 table entries span February/August 2015 through August 2026. Dye’s printed results range from 0.07 to 0.26 ppb; the August 2026 entry is 0.15 ppb. Wise’s cells distinguish nondetect results from periods without water sampling. Those labels must not be combined or converted to zero.

A material note says Wise Rd. initially measured 0.077 ppb in August 2024, followed by a nondetect resample. The corresponding table cell says Non-Detect. Both the initial result and subsequent result are retained here. Every row lists a 0.07 ppb reporting limit. The accompanying chart rounds displayed values and plots some nondetects as zero; the table and qualifier note are the more precise records reproduced below.

The fact sheet says BWL developed an action plan with EGLE and continued quarterly Dye monitoring after the initial UCMR 3 finding. Its table has no February 2025 row; this page does not invent a missing water sample. The sheet discusses a 0.35 ppb EPA risk-assessment level and a 7.2 ppb Michigan contaminated-site cleanup criterion. These are different kinds of benchmarks, not interchangeable drinking-water MCLs or a household safety determination.

BWL 1,4-dioxane fact sheet, four pages, August 2026 file retrieved September 17, 2026. Table on pages 2–3; narrative on page 1; chart on page 4.

Chromium measurements have different scopes

BWL’s chromium fact sheet describes a 2015 UCMR 3 hexavalent-chromium average of 0.2 ppb, a separate well-field evaluation averaging 0.05 ppb, and monthly total-chromium plant monitoring described as nondetect or less than 1 ppb. It does not give individual dates for those latter observations. Total chromium and hexavalent chromium are distinct measurements; the sheet’s comparison to a 100 ppb total-chromium standard should not be read as a dedicated hexavalent-chromium limit or proof of current conditions.

BWL hexavalent-chromium fact sheet, one page, retrieved September 17, 2026; the sheet has no visible publication date.

EPA’s 2026Q2 SDWIS download contains 39 site-visit records for Lansing, including complete sanitary surveys dated February 13, 2011; March 6, 2015; June 20, 2019; and October 3, 2023. Other entries include scheduled visits, water sample collection, operation and maintenance, and a partial survey. A visit record is not itself a violation determination.

The October 3, 2023 survey codes identify minor deficiencies for source water, pumps, treatment, finished-water storage and distribution; recommendations for security and data verification; and no deficiencies or recommendations in the remaining listed categories. The source comment describes a Dye WCP inspection. These codes do not describe the individual deficiencies or establish whether each was later corrected. The full survey and response records are needed for that conclusion.

The same download contains 26 lead 90th-percentile records covering water sampling periods from 1992 through 2023. These are system monitoring statistics, not individual household results. Federal water sampling windows can cover multiple years, while an annual report may describe the actual collection season. The extract’s PB90 records are not a complete copper-monitoring dataset.

The facility file contains 165 named records, including source wells, treatment and other facilities with their reported status. A facility-record count is not the count of currently producing wells. It should not replace the differently dated well and network counts in BWL’s annual report and rate books.

Within that file, 112 wells are coded active and 36 inactive. It also lists eight active pump facilities, two active treatment plants, five active storage facilities, one inactive storage facility and one active distribution-system record. The 112 active-well records agree with the 2025 annual report’s well count; they do not by themselves establish daily production or the status of every well today.

A separate milestone records submission of the lead service-line inventory on October 16, 2024. That confirms a reported submission date, not the inventory’s material-category totals or the result of each property inspection.

Two earlier visit comments add local operational detail. On November 12, 2021, the state record discusses 90-series wells leased by BWL from Lansing Township and their addition to BWL’s inventory while retaining township ownership. On August 3, 2021, a proposed test-well visit records a request to reduce the isolation area from 200 feet to 84 feet; the comment says the variance could not be provided until EGLE completed hydrogeological review and an aquifer test. That is a recorded request and review condition, not evidence that the variance was granted or remains in effect.

EPA latest SDWIS downloadable records; field definitions and code dictionary. This is a dated federal snapshot, not a live inspection or notice service. Records are filtered by MI0003760, whose identity is independently matched to Michigan’s WSSN 3760.

Two EPA sources expose different portions of Lansing’s history. The 2026Q2 bulk SDWIS snapshot contains seven violation IDs in 18 joined violation/enforcement rows. EPA’s separate public endpoint returned four violation records and six enforcement-action records on September 17, 2026. Both are historical database extracts, not live alerts or findings about water at an individual tap.

The bulk snapshot adds records from 1995, 1997 and 2004 that are absent from the endpoint response. All seven bulk records are labeled resolved. Its calculated return-to-compliance dates for the 2019 and 2020 records differ from the explicit return-to-compliance dates in the endpoint extract. The detailed system records preserve those values with their source labels; a calculated date is not silently substituted for the dated state action.

The 2020 annual report discusses TTHM monitoring during May 2020. The federal extract uses a February 29–May 31, 2020 compliance period for two records. These source periods are retained separately; the annual report is not treated as a complete substitute for the regulatory record.

The reference dictionary identifies the 1994 record as “OCCT/SOWT Study/Recommendation”, the 2019 record as routine Revised Total Coliform Rule monitoring, and the two 2020 records as disinfection-byproduct monitoring and reporting. The latter cover TTHM and HAA5. They are not all concentration exceedances. State actions include violation/reminder notices, requests for public notification and recorded compliance achieved. The original notices and underlying state files remain the appropriate sources for the full circumstances.

EPA SDWIS data definitions and reference-code dictionary, 2026Q2 download. Resolved status means a resolving action is recorded; EPA notes that this can mean return to compliance, a rule no longer applicable, or no further action required. Use explicit return-to-compliance dates in the detailed records, not status alone.