The Village of Glenview

Water Information


​The Water Division of the Public Works Department is responsible for maintaining and managing the Village's water supply.  Its 21 employees manage the Village's pump houses, meters and general water distribution. Glenview purchases its water from the Village of Wilmette. 

Where does Glenview's water come from?

Thirsty? Fill a glass of water from the tap. Ready to cool off?  Jump in the shower.  Working on the lawn?  Turn on the sprinkler. Clean, safe water is there whenever you need it and you probably don't give it much thought. But maybe you should. Glenview's water takes quite a circuitous route before it comes out of your tap or hose.

The long and winding road

It all starts at Lake Michigan.  Glenview buys most of its water from the Village of Wilmette, and Wilmette's water plant is right on the waterfront at Lake Avenue (near Gilson Park).  Two intake pipes running about a mile out into the lake bring "raw water" into the plant, where it receives a chemical pretreatment. Chlorine acts as a disinfectant, fluoride is added to keep your teeth healthy, carbon improves taste and odor and alum helps clarify the water.
 
Now the water enters mixing-settling basins. The alum forms a sticky, gelatinous material that attracts about 90 percent of the particles that come in from the lake and it all settles to the bottom of the tank.  The last 10 percent is caught by large filters. Phosphate is added to the water, because it coats the pipes and prevents any lead (common in older homes) from leaching into your water supply. Finally, the water makes its way into underground reservoirs and out into pipes heading west toward Glenview.

On into Glenview

Far beneath the ground at Wilmette and Laramie Avenues, and at Laramie just north of Washington, 8.3 million gallons of water pass into Glenview from Wilmette through two pipes every day (on a hot day that can peak at 17 million gallons!).  From there it travels into one of Glenview's four reservoir/pumping stations, where a little extra chlorine is added. In all likelihood you've passed at least one of our reservoir/pumping stations on your travels around town.  Together, the stations at Laramie and Wilmette Avenue, Rugen Road near East Lake Avenue and West Lake Avenue near Pfingsten hold 16.3 million gallons.
 
More prominent are the two elevated water tanks, one on Waukegan south of Glenview Road, one on Central Road, west of Milwaukee Avenue. The level of water in these tanks rises and falls with the pressure in the pipes, and is constantly monitored. When the level drops below a certain point, additional pumps start up at the reservoirs.

From lake to tap

In the end, though, you probably care most about the water that comes into your house. And this travels through large pipes that leave the reservoir/pumping stations into a series of smaller and smaller pipes that branch out to cover the entire Village.  Total Village use rises and falls every day (during half-time on Super Bowl Sunday it really jumps!) but whenever you want it, it's there clear and pure all the way from the lake . . . to your glass of water.

Water meter

The water meter inside your home is most likely to be in your basement, the crawlspace, or utility closet (if your house is on a slab.)  Some homes in the Glenview service area actually have the meters in a pit in the front yard. The reading on your water meter today is the total volume of water that has gone through the meter since it was installed. Your usage for each billing cycle is derived by subtracting the previous reading from the current reading.

 In 2015-16, the Village of Glenview replaced all 16,000 residential and commercial water meters within Glenview with new automated meters (picture above). That allowed the Village to implement an automated meter reading process for better customer service, greater data accuracy and reduced operational costs.

A good way to check for good flow (volume) in your home is the bucket test. Take a five-gallon bucket and put it in your laundry tub. You want a faucet with no screens or aerators. Note the position of the Low Flow Indicator -- for example, perhaps it's at seven.  Open the faucet all the way, filling the bucket.  When it is full, turn off the faucet.  This should take about 30 seconds. Check the meter. The dial should be at two, which is five gallons. 

Lawn sprinkling restrictions

Lawn sprinkling in Glenview between May 15 and September 15 is banned between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Additionally during that period, sprinkling is based on an odd-even day system. State law has mandated that in municipalities that use Lake Michigan water, sprinkling for even-numbered addresses can only take place on even-numbered dates (1234 Main Street  on the 2nd, 4th, etc.) and watering for odd-numbered addresses can only take place on odd-numbered dates (4321 Main Street on the 1st, 3rd, etc.). No lawn sprinkling is permitted on the 31st of any month within that period.

The exception is newly-laid sod, hydroseed, trees and shrubs, which will be allowed a 90-day exemption to the restrictions.

For more information:

Water Consumption Portal

In 2016, the Village completed the replacement of all water meters in Glenview with meters that are more accurate and use new technologies. The improvements allow the Village's system to record hourly consumption readings for all metered accounts. By using the Water Consumption Portal, customers can see their actual water consumption, and more actively manage their water account.

Once signed up, customers will be able to:

  • Receive automatic email notifications of possible leaks in their home
  • Explore their historic, monthly, weekly, and hourly usage
  • View their current balance and previous water bills
  • Set notifications to alert them if their usage is projected to exceed a self-determined threshold
  • See how their usage measures up with comparable homes.

Signing up is easy! All you need is your account number and customer ID, which both can be found on your quarterly bill, and your ZIP code. Go online to: https://glenview.watersmart.com to sign up. Click on the "Find My Account" button, and you will be prompted to enter your email address and create a password.

Disclaimer:

The Village of Glenview strongly encourages water customers to sign up for the Water Consumption Portal to view usage and to set-up notifications for abnormal usage. Water registered on the water meter is the sole responsibility of the homeowner and no adjustments will be made to bills, regardless of how the water was consumed.  The Village may notify customers of suspected abnormal usage but this notification is at the sole discretion of the Village. The Village of Glenview is not responsible to notify customers of suspected abnormal usage, as customers are ultimately responsible for any leaks or repairs on the private infrastructure.