Frequently Asked Questions

Scheduled water shut off’s can be performed Monday through Friday from 6am to 2pm, the property will be assessed a $45.00 turn fee  during 6am-2pm after hours of 2pm-6am, Saturday or Sunday will be charged a turn on fee of $60.00. The water may only be turn off/on or meter pulled by an authorized employee of the Water Utility. To schedule an appointment please email or call our Water Utility billing clerk at ppatel@germantownwi.gov  or by Phone-262-250-4703

Water quality issues can be caused by many different factors, and the water utility can help troubleshoot if the problem is in your home or in the outside distribution system. Before you call the water department, first try to do some homeowner detective work. 

• Verify if the water quality issue is in the whole house, in one fixture, or multiple fixtures. 
• Is it on the hot side or the cold side or both? 
• If it is in only one room of your home, more than likely the problem is in your home. 

To speak to someone about the issue, please call the water utility office at 262-250-4703 or 262-253-8254.

Water bills can be paid in person at the Village Hall Treasury Department, mailed with payment or paid online through the Village’s website: Online Bill Pay

Before you call the water department, first try to do some homeowner detective work.

• Locate your water meter (usually in the basement or utility room) where, and make sure your main water valves are in the open position.
• Determine if the whole house has low or no water pressure by checking every faucet. 
• Determine if your house has low or no pressure in one fixture or multiple fixtures.
• Determine if the low or no pressure is on the hot side, cold side, or both.

If you haven’t been able to find the problem after taking these steps, please give us a call. You can call  the water utility office at 262-250-4703 or 262-253-8254, of for after business hours, call the Germantown non-emergency Police Department line at 262-253-7780.

Confirm (visually) if the leak is occurring before/after the meter, or if the leak is actually coming from the meter itself.

• If the leak is not coming directly from the water meter - then you will need to contact a plumber to address the issue.
• If the leak is coming directly from the water meter, then call the Water Utility department at 262-250-4703 or 262-253-8254.

We will only replace the water meter in your home; any other leaks are the responsibility of the property owner. The water valves used to shut off the water to replace the meter are the responsibility of the property owner, and they need to work prior to any meter replacement. If they start to leak or break at the time of the meter replacement, the cost of the repair is the responsibility of the property owner.

Your water meter keeps track of your home’s usage in its internal memory.  This meter is read every quarter by radio frequency signal from outside your home.  It can also be accessed by utility staff when a reading outside the norm is reported or discovered by utility staff.

Please see the link on our meter description sheet.

In most cases, water that smells like rotten eggs is caused by the anode rod inside your hot water tank. 

Anode rods are designed to attract corrosive elements in the water, thereby diminishing corrosion in the vulnerable steel liner. The degrading of the anode rod and/or the chemical reaction causes a rotten egg smell. 

For additional information, click on the link below for many hot water heater issues on the village web site at:

https://www.germantownwi.gov/341/Water-Quality

and for water heater tank issues:

https://www.waterheaterrescue.com/troubleshooting/smelly-hot-water.html

The Germantown water utility owns the water service from the connection point at the water main - up to the water shut off in your yard (located at the road right-of-way line); as well as the physical water meter; we do not own any valves or piping connected to the meter. 

Any leak in your home is the responsibility of the property owner, even if the meter was just replaced. 

Germantown water comes from a ground water source aquafer distributed and pumped by wells though miles of buried underground pipes. Please see the link for a description of Aquifer water sources.

Wisconsin Aquifers

Hydrogeologic Framework of Southeast Wisconsin

The water quality is largely affected by the contact the water has with its surroundings from the underground aquifers through the pumping and distribution process and your interior plumbing. Please see the link for a list of our testing requirements in the annual Consumer report.

Water Quality Report

The small 4”X 4” plastic flags in your yard are 'locating flags' which mark buried underground utilities. 

A utility, the Village, a neighbor, or someone at your property likely contacted Diggers Hotline which uses a system to identify these lines.

• It is frequently utilized for constructing, repairing, planning, and/or installing underground utilities. 
• These lines could be power cables, phone or cable TV lines, storm, gas, water, or sewer lines. 
• Most of the flags have identifiable owner references and phone contact numbers. 

The flags should remain in place until the work is completed.

The pink or black film around plumbing fixtures, showers/tubs, or in toilets at the bowl water level is the result of a condition caused by an airborne bacteria that can breed into a pink or black stain once it encounters a wet or damp environment. See link for in-depth article describing this condition.

Water distribution pipes over time react like the human body. As our bodies age, and depending on one’s diet, we can develop plaque buildup in the blood vessels. 

The water distribution is very similar because we do not pump and distribute distilled or non mineral water. 

Over time, water travels through the aquifer picking up minerals. These microscopic minerals settle out into the utilities’ distribution pipes and pipes in your home. 

When velocities of the water or water directions change due to hydrant flushing, valve turning, water tower and pump operation, water main breaks, or fires, buildup can break free mixing it in the pipes and changing the color of the water. 

If you experience a change in the color of your water, please give us a call.