Water Management
Water Bills
Pay Your Water Bill
You can pay your utility bill online through the City of Chicago Utility Billing portal. To dispute a bill, you can contact the Department of Finance's Utility Billing and Customer Service Center at 312.744.4426 or utilitybill@cityofchicago. If you are having any trouble, please reach out to our office so we can assist you.
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Utility Bill Relief Program
Low-income residents can receive a reduced rate on their water, sewer, and water-sewer tax along with debt forgiveness after paying the reduced rate bills for one year. To check your eligibility, please ​click this link: Utility Billing Relief.
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For information on how to set up a payment plan, please click this link: Utility Bill Payment Program.​
Stormwater Management
The City of Chicago's sewers have an inlet control called a Rainblocker that limits water intake during heavy rainfall events to prevent overwhelming the stormwater system. This can result in street or sewer ponding for 24-48 hours following the heaviest of storms, but it helps to prevent sewage backup into basements.
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Residents are encouraged to clean the catch basins in front of their homes. The Department of Water Management crews do not routinely clean the grates themselves. If you suspect there is a major blockage in the drain itself, please call 311 or our office to place a Sewer Cleaning Inspection Request or Alley Sewer Inspection Request.
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If you experience flooding or sewage backup in your basement, please call 311 to place a Water in Basement complaint. Basement flooding can be caused by issues in the main sewer or in your private drain. A Water in Basement complaint triggers a crew to come out and investigate the main sewer to ensure it is flowing properly and has no blockages. If there is no issue in the main, they will leave a Private Drain flyer on your door. Please see below for more information on Private Drain repairs.​​​​​
Lead Line Inventory
Approximately 400,000 properties across the City of Chicago have Lead Service Lines. Service lines are the pipes that transport water from the water main in the street into homes.
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If you live in a house or two-flat built before 1986,it is highly likely that your service line is made of lead unless it has been replaced since then due to renovation or addition.
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The City is currently working to build a Lead Service Line Inventory. Click the link below to see steps for how to check if your service line is lead.
Lead Line Replacements
As the first step in a multi-year effort to remove all Chicago's lead lines, the City is offering two voluntary residential Lead Service Line Replacement (LSLR) programs along with two required residential programs. For more details, please see below or review the Lead Safe Chicago website here.
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Equity Lead Service Line Replacement
Homeowners who meet income requirements may be eligible for a completely free full lead service line replacement- a $16,000-$30,000 value! Please review the household income and ownership requirements.
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Homeowner Initiated Lead Service Line Replacement
If a homeowner wants to hire a contractor and remove the full existing lead service line, the City will waive up to $5,000 in permit fees. Additionally, the City will attach the new service line to the water main and provide a free water meter for the contractor to install. More information can be found on the Lead-Safe Chicago website.
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Breaks and Leaks Lead Service Line Replacement
​If your service line breaks or leaks and must be repaired, it is now mandatory to call 311 to report it. The Department of Water Management will then contact you and schedule a time to replace both the private and public sides of the line for free.
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Block Long Replacement Program
As the Department of Water Management performs scheduled water and sewer main replacements, they are replacing lead service lines that were connected to that water main.
Water Testing
The City of Chicago treats the water with chemicals to coat our pipes and prevent lead leaching into water, so even if you have a Lead Service Line, you likely still have safe drinking water.
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If you would like to have your water tested, you can order a lead testing kit to be mailed to you. You can either collect the samples yourself and arrange for the bottles to be picked up by Department of Water Management staff or schedule for a representative to take the water samples. For more information or to order your kit, please see the link below.
Private Drain Program
Are you having problems with water in your basement? If so, you may have a problem with your private sewer drain. The private sewer drain is owned by the homeowner, but through this program, private sewer drains are repaired when the problem is on the public side of the property (see graphic above).
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In order to opt into the program, the homeowner must hire a licensed sewer contractor to rod and televise the private sewer drain with a DWM House Drain Inspector present. The contractor must call 312.747.4591 to schedule an appointment with the House Drain Inspector first.
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During the appointment, the contractor and the DWM inspector will determine whether or not there is a break in the private sewer drain and where it is. If there is a break in the public way and all other guidelines are met, DWM will schedule and pay to repair the line. Please see the link below for more information.