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| Village Government
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Water and Sewer Departments
There has always been a level of cooperation between the Public Works, Water, and Wastewater Utilities. While this process has worked, the Village Board envisioned that joining the Water and Wastewater Utilities would further improve their effectiveness.
The water and wastewater utilities were joined to establish the Mukwonago Utilities. The groups were joined to better serve the residents at the lowest long-term costs possible.. The two groups work out of their original locations, but the new organization emphasizes cooperation and sharing of equipment to benefit the community.. A couple examples on the benefit include:
The utilities provide the Village with the essential elements of water and wastewater treatment.
The water utility has two deep wells
to supply the Village with water and two shallow wells to blend
deep aquifer water with shallow water to reduce the amount of
radium in the water. The first well was constructed in
1966, and was drilled to a depth of 1,500 feet. The second
well was constructed in 1981, and was drilled to a depth of
1,500 feet. The two combined have the capability of 2.6
million gallons per day. Both wells supply the utilities
water towers that has a 1 million gallon capacity. The
shallow wells both began operations in 2001, with one well
drilled to a depth of 147feet, and the other drilled to a depth
of 105 feet. The two combined have the capability of
1.4 million gallons per day. To help with water conservation the Village of Mukwonago adopted a water conservation ordinance. It states: "Effective between May 1st and September 15th of every year during this period the following requirements will be in effect: No person shall use water to sprinkle a lawn except on those days as permitted in the subsection. Sprinkling shall be permitted on even-numbered calendar days at locations with even-numbered addresses and on odd-numbered calendar days at locations with odd-numbered addresses. These restrictions shall apply to all residence and to all businesses and institutions having lawns, gardens, trees or shrubs, and shall be followed at all park and public buildings owned by the Village. These restrictions shall not apply to any person engaged in the business of growing or selling plants of any kind.
Any person violating any provision of this division shall be fined not less than $25.00 nor more than $200.00 for each offense, and a separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
Note: There are no exceptions for new or installing lawns. It is recommended that you properly plan to install your lawn before May 1st or after September 15th
For simple steps that can be taken to reduce water consumption within your household please visit www.epa.gov/watersense. It is a very good informational tool you as a homeowner can use to keep your water consumption down and in return saving you money. Remember every drip counts.
Throughout every year the Village of Mukwonago Water Department is involve in a water meter change out program. It is required by the Public Service Commission (PSC) that the water meter be changed every certain number of years depending of the size of the water meter you have in your establishment. At this time the Water Department will also check for cross-connections, which are prohibited. These services are free of charge. For single family homes, condos, and small businesses it is required that we change the meter every 10 years. For all other meters it will be required to be changed every 4 years or less. When your meter is due to be changed you will receive a pink notice on your door advising you to call the Water Department to set up a date and time that is convenient for you the homeowner. The Water Department asks that you clear a space around the water meter and that both valves before and after the meter are operable. The valves are the homeowner’s responsibility to maintain. If they are broke, it is the homeowner’s responsibility to contact a plumber to fix. With valves that are operable, adequate space and a good shut off the entire job should take no more than 20 minutes.
If siding work is being done, it is required that you or your contractor pull a building permit, which can be done at 440 River Crest Court. Also you or your contractor must contact the Water Department prior to starting the work so the water department can remove the outside water meter on the house. Failure to do so or tampering with the outside water meter will result in a fine.
As a homeowner you are responsible for keeping the area around the outside water meter on your home clear. Trees and shrubs must be cut back far enough that it is manageable for the meter reader to read the numbers off of the meter.
The Village of Mukwonago Water Utility flushes water mains out of the fire hydrants twice a year, once in spring and once in fall. The purpose of the flushing is to remove most of the natural minerals which are harmless but sometimes discolor the water and cause objectionable odors. Flushing will only take place Monday thru Friday between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. The Water Department hopes the flushing will not cause any inconvenience for its customers and asks cooperation and understanding.
The first sewers and a basic wastewater treatment plant was first installed in 1921. The treatment plant was later upgraded and expanded in 1951 to handle meet the needs of the growing community. The plant was rebuilt in 1981, providing the Village with then state-of-the-art treatment and expanded capacity. Since then, additional upgrades allowed the facility to meet additional treatment requirements. Today, the treatment plant can treat an average flow of 1.5 million gallons per day, with a peak flow of 3.75 million gallons per day.
The treatment plant continues to be improved, for better efficiency and control the long-term wastewater treatment costs. The initial plan was to perform another major upgrade in 2010. However, the strained economy made this an unacceptable option. Under the new utility organization, the staff has replaced inefficient equipment as it fails. The Village can buy the equipment at a lower cost and use existing staff whenever possible to install it.
The wastewater flows from homes, businesses, and industries through a series of sewers located throughout the Village. The sewers are designed to carry the wastewater from all of these places to the Village’s wastewater treatment plant.
Wastewater generally flows through the sewers by gravity. The slope of the pipes allows this efficient process to convey the wastewater to the treatment plant. When gravity flow will not work, the Village has lift stations that pump the wastewater to a point in the gravity sewers where the wastewater will flow by gravity again.
The Village’s utility staff began to clean the sanitary sewers in 2010, as part of the effort to control utility costs. Prior to that time, contractors had been used to perform the sewer cleaning.
The sewers are sized to carry the wastewater, not rain water or ground water. The “clear water” can come from building drain tiles, sump pumps discharging to the sewer, or even some roof drains that might be connected to the sewer.
The Village residents can help to control a major element of rising utility costs. The clear water flowing into the sewers can cause sewer back-ups and/or flows that would exceed the treatment plant’s capacity. Those conditions could lead the the State mandating plant upgrades or sewer upgrades to prevent those problems. Those upgrades are expensive and preventable. You can help:
If you as a homeowner will be doing any construction that involves digging or excavation on your property, it is highly recommended that you call diggers hotline before you start your excavation. Diggers Hotline is a free service. It provides you as a homeowner the location of all the utilities that are within your property. With this information you can properly excavate without causing any damage to those utilities. If you excavate without contacting diggers hotline you are now responsible for the entire cost of any damage to those utilities. Diggers Hotline number 1-800-242-8511.
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