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How does water get to my home?

A person filling a black metal water bottle at a kitchen sink
Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy

How does water get to my home?

Water is supplied to your home from either a public water supply or a private well. It’s important to determine how your water is supplied in order to understand how your water quality is monitored and who to contact if you have water quality concerns.

A general rule to follow is if you get a bill for your water, you are likely on a community water supply.

Once you’ve determine how water is supplied to your home then you can contact the appropriate agency if you have water quality questions or concerns. Feel free to reach out to EGLE if you experience issues resolving your concern with your local water supplier at EGLE-CleanWater@Michigan.gov

Community Water Supplies

Residents who receive their water from a community water supplier, should contact the agency listed on your water bill with water quality questions or concerns. View a list of community water supplies on the Michigan.gov/CommunityWaterSupply page, where you can also learn more about Michigan’s Safe Drinking Water Act and how the community water supply program helps protect over 1,400 community public water supplies in Michigan.

Learn how water travels from a local community water supply through a home and to its faucets. 

MI EnviroMinute: Community Water Supplies

Learn how water travels from a local community water supply through a home and to its faucets. 

Private Household Wells

If your water is supplied by a private well, contact your local health department. You can find their phone number at MALPH.org.

MI EnviroMinute: Well Water Video

MI EnviroMinute: Well Water

Learn about how a water well pulls water from deep in the ground and pumps it into your home to your faucet.
A Type 1 Community Water Supply; multiple homes and businesses showing pipes coming from each building and going to a central location
A Type 2 Non-Transient Non-Community water supply; a school showing a pipe going to a private well
A Type 2 Transient Non-Community water supply; a shop showing a pipe going to a private well
A Type 3 water supply; a multi-family home showing pipes going to each unit to a private well
A residential home showing a pipe going from a private well to the home