Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD)
City of Detroit
Population reference
DWSD's 2025 official Water Quality Report says the system provides clean water to more than 645,000 residents and reports 213,737 active accounts; older City material describes more than 230,000 accounts and nearly 700,000 residents. The current report figure is used here because service population and account counts vary by reporting year and retail-service definition.
Billing detail
Broad public detail found
Official destination
Open provider website ↗Provider-specific findings
Billing and account research from public material
Provider-specific research notes are displayed separately from fields that contain only an unavailable-information marker. Read qualifiers in each note and verify current account terms with the provider.
- Billing frequency
- Monthly billing. The DWSD customer portal provides current and historical bills and real-time usage information, while the Water Quality Report describes monthly account activity and automated meter-reading support.
- Rate structure
- Increasing two-tier volumetric structure with a fixed equivalent-unit service charge, separate sewer charges, and a drainage charge. The approved FY2026-27 schedule prices water at $28.57 per Mcf for the first 0.6 Mcf (6 CCF, approximately 4,488 gallons) and $51.21 per Mcf above 0.6 Mcf, plus an $8.68 monthly water service rate. Sewer is $63.13 per Mcf plus a $7.23 monthly sewer service rate, and drainage is $768.75 per billable acre per month. One Mcf is 1,000 cubic feet, or approximately 7.48 CCF.
- Residential cost reference
- Using the FY2026-27 approved schedule and approximately 5,000-7,000 gallons per month (about 6.7-9.4 CCF), a representative water-plus-sewer bill is roughly $86-$113 before the property-specific drainage charge. The estimate includes the fixed water and sewer service rates and the two-tier water/sewer volumetric charges; actual Detroit bills can be materially higher or lower because drainage is based on billable acreage/impervious-property rules and the account's measured consumption.
- Wastewater and sewer calculation
- DWSD bills sewerage using metered water consumption rather than a published winter-average formula in the reviewed rate materials. For FY2026-27, the sewer volumetric charge is $63.13 per Mcf (approximately $6.313 per CCF) plus a $7.23 monthly sewer service rate. A separate drainage charge is assessed at $768.75 per billable acre per month to fund stormwater collection and treatment; it is not simply a percentage of indoor water use. Private leaks can increase measured water usage, but an approved leak adjustment is generally a sewerage-only credit under DWSD's leak policy.
- Meter reading
- DWSD uses electronic automatic meter-reading infrastructure, including AMR meters, communication modules/MIUs, and AMR cable or equipment that is separately referenced in the approved fee schedule. The customer portal can expose real-time usage and the utility can help customers review hourly usage, where the installed equipment supports it. Bills are issued monthly, but the public materials do not promise a single universal read date or hourly transmission for every premise; the exact read and data cadence depends on meter installation and communications status. Customers should keep the meter and communications equipment accessible and report suspected leaks or abnormal usage promptly.
- New-account deposit
- The current residential establish-service page requires identity and occupancy documentation: homeowners or landlords generally provide government ID, Social Security number, and deed or property-transfer evidence, while tenants provide ID, Social Security number, and a valid lease assigning utility responsibility. The reviewed current residential materials do not publish a standard startup security-deposit amount, credit-check waiver, or routine refund schedule, so the ordinary residential deposit is not publicly documented publicly specified. Commercial or unusual-risk accounts should confirm any deposit or guarantee requirement directly with DWSD before activation.
- Activation or transfer fee
- The approved FY2026-27 schedule lists $45 for water turn-on/off related to maintenance, repair, and meter operations, and $45 for a real-estate closing fee on non-AMR accounts. The current establish-service page does not publish a separate universal residential account-transfer price; customers should initiate or transfer service through DWSD at 313-267-8000 and confirm the applicable transaction charge, identity documents, and requested date. Same-day or special field work may be billed differently from a routine account-name transfer.
Context, not a score
How documentation coverage compares
This profile
100%
overview fields with research notes
Michigan
36%
records with any overview detail
National index
50%
records with any overview detail
Coverage measures what this directory documented. It does not measure service quality, affordability, or regulatory compliance.
Research record
Broad public detail found
7 of 7 fields in this section contain provider-specific public detail in dataset August 1, 2026.
Documented
100%
Primary verification routes
- Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) public website ↗
Provider-controlled destination used to confirm current customer instructions.
- EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System ↗
Federal background on public water-system records and their limitations.