Montgomery water bills to arrive monthly in the mail starting in January

The Village of Montgomery has announced that beginning Jan. 1 village water customers will begin receiving monthly statements from the village due on the 20th of each month moving forward.

The new water billing schedule is part of “Streamline Montgomery,” a three-phase water sustainability action plan now being implemented by the village.

In the first phase of Streamline Montgomery, the village committed to water meter installation throughout the service area and the village at no additional cost to the customer. The program, which began earlier this month, utilizes a contracted partner, United Meters, Inc. (UMI), to replace 1,200 meters in the village before April 2022. The public works department will install an additional 500 in the same time frame. The three subsequent years will include another 4,400 new meters to update all water meter technology before the spring of 2025.

The second phase in the Streamline Montgomery action plan includes moving to a monthly billing cycle for village water customers effective next month.

“The addition of new meter technology and monthly water billing will allow the village to better track consumption and give homeowners greater insight into their water use down to the gallon. In addition, the water billing process is most often how residents become aware of household water leaks or pipe issues which often contribute to higher water bills,” the statement reads.

The third phase of Streamline Montgomery includes the unanimous decision reached last week by the village board to adopt a resolution designating Lake Michigan as the village’s preferred new source of water and the DuPage Water Commission as the provider of the lake water.

The village has historically drawn its water from the deep standstone aquifer located under the village and much of the lower Fox Valley area, but the Illinois State Water Survey has determined that the water level in the aquifer is declining and it may not be able to meet local demand by 2050.

“The goal is a safe, reliable water source for generations to come, and it is important to the village to provide for transparency, resident education, and community feedback throughout the subsequent phases of this process,” Public Works Director Mark Wolf said of Streamline Montgomery in the statement.

The village encourages residents to stay updated on the village website (MontgomeryIL.org) and social media (@MontgomeryIL) for residents wishing to learn more about the project. Additionally, village officials strongly urge Montgomery water customers to read the information included with their water utility bills emailed or mailed to customers based on their preferred form of communication at or around the first of each month.