Water and Sewer

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.

Where does Glenview's water come from?

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.

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.

Lawn Sprinkling Restrictions

Lawn sprinkling in Glenview between May 15 and Sept. 15 is banned between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Watering is not permitted between 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. from May 15 through Sept. 15. State regulations mandate that watering taking place outside those hours be done on an odd-even day system. Even-numbered addresses may water on even-numbered days (May 16, 18, etc. ) and odd-numbered addresses on odd-numbered days (May 15, 17, etc.). No lawn sprinkling is permitted on the 31st of any month.

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

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.