Plumbing services in New Baltimore, MI

Call with what you're seeing, whether it's a pit that won't stop running or a tank that won't heat. The city treats its own Lake St. Clair water and runs its own wastewater plant, and many basements sit a few streets from the bay.

Anchor Bay shoreline homes and 1990s subdivisions

New Baltimore's median home was built in 1995. About 60% of houses went up in 1990 or later, roughly a fifth before 1960, and the rest in between. More than four in five are owner-occupied, and about three-quarters are detached single-family houses.

The two halves of that housing stock fail in different ways. Older homes near the waterfront and the downtown commonly have galvanized or mixed supply pipe, cast iron drains, and sometimes plumbing in a crawlspace or an outside wall where cold air reaches it. Subdivision homes from the 1990s and 2000s typically run copper or PEX with PVC drains, and their basements rely on footing drains feeding a sump pit. When that pump quits during a March thaw, the basement is where you find out. Those are typical era patterns, not a statement about any one house.

Macomb County was part of federal disaster declarations for storms and flooding in August 2014, June 2021 and August 2023. The declarations were county-wide, and they are a good reason to test the sump, check the check valve and think about a battery backup before spring. Our guide to spring thaw and basement water walks through the checks.

Lake St. Clair water and the city's own sewer plant

The city's treatment plant pulls from Lake St. Clair, and the 2023 Water Quality Report rates that source highly susceptible to potential contamination, which is why the plant treats and tests it. That year's report listed no lead service lines and 541 of unknown material among 4,041, a lead 90th percentile of 0 ppb, and every PFAS compound tested under 2 parts per trillion. Unknown means the records don't show the material, and a plumber can check the pipe where it enters the basement.

Wastewater goes to the city's own facility on Cricklewood, permitted to release up to 1.75 million gallons a day of treated water into Crapaud Creek. A small plant feels it when clear groundwater is pumped into floor drains, so sump discharge should go outside, not into a laundry tub.

How a visit works on a narrow lot by Anchor Bay

M-29 runs through the city as Main St, and the older lots near the water are narrow, with parking tight and the sump pit, cleanout or crawlspace hatch often tucked somewhere awkward. When you call, tell us where a work vehicle can park and where those access points are. We pass it on, so the plumber you're connected with isn't hunting for a hatch in the cold. The plumber finds the problem, shows you what failed and why, and gives you options and what drives the cost before starting. After the work, everything gets run and checked, from the pump cycle to the burner flame.

Sump pumps, water heaters and frozen lines by the bay

These six services line up with how New Baltimore homes are built and where the water sits:

Downtown New Baltimore, Burke Park and the city permit desk

Walter & Mary Burke Park sits on Anchor Bay with its 160-foot flagpole, and the downtown waterfront along Washington St and Front St hosts the farmers market and the Bay-Rama Fish Fly Festival. The whole city is in ZIP code 48047, which it shares with part of Chesterfield Township, so check which community your address is in before applying for a permit.

Plumbing permits come from the city's Building, Codes & Zoning department at 36535 Green St, which posts its plumbing permit application online. Review can take up to ten city business days, and plumbing inspection requests made by 1 p.m. can be set for the next day. Michigan requires a permit before most plumbing work starts. The exceptions are repairs to only the working parts of a faucet or valve and clearing stoppages, as long as the piping and fixtures aren't altered. For a frozen line, the frozen pipe repair page covers what happens next.