Detroit raises price of water for state-of-art quality
Average boost, combined with sewage, to be 7.6%
February 22, 2001

BY JAMES G. HILL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

The Detroit City Council approved a water and sewer rate hike Wednesday that officials say will result in safer drinking water and cleaner rivers.

The new rates, which will take effect July 1, reflect an average combined water and sewage rate increase of 7.6 percent for Detroit residents and 6.9 percent for suburbanites, according to Frank Hayden of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. The department supplies water to communities throughout southeast Michigan.

The higher rates, approved in a 6-3 vote, will fund major improvements in the city's century-old water system, which is one of the largest in the world. Many of the improvements, pushed by the Environmental Protection Agency, are aimed at cleaning up the water.

The building of Detroit's new Water Works plant will cost nearly $300 million. Instead of using chlorine to kill bacteria, the new facility will use a process known as ozonation. Ozonation kills bacteria but is less harmful to the environment and consumers. Chlorine byproducts have been linked to small increases in cancer rates.

The ozonation process will become mandatory for all municipal water treatment in the next five to 10 years, according to the EPA.