Birmingham Water Damage Restoration

The 1950s is the biggest building decade in Birmingham. 2,468 housing units (24 percent of 10,342) went up between 1950 and 1959.

About 1,985 Birmingham housing units (19 percent) have been built since 2000, which is newer plumbing and wiring beside the older stock.

Median gross rent in Birmingham is $1,902 a month.

The census counts 902 vacant housing units in Birmingham (9 percent of the stock).

Birmingham has 1,009 housing units in buildings of 20 or more units: 444 in 20 to 49 unit buildings and 565 in buildings of 50 or more.

Attached single-family homes such as townhouses are 663 of Birmingham's 10,342 housing units (6 percent).

The Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner is responsible for the regional sewer drains that Birmingham's sewer system discharges into.

Birmingham designs combined and storm sewers for about two inches of rain in one hour, the 10-year storm, which has a 10 percent chance each year. The city says recent storms have far exceeded that.

Birmingham's sewer system is a gravity system. The city owns no pump stations or lift stations.

Birmingham notes that many private sewer laterals collect groundwater from the home's foundation drains, so a lateral can be overwhelmed in an extreme storm as well as the public sewer.

On August 24, 2023 Fire Station No. 1 recorded 3.62 inches of rain per hour between 10:20 and 10:35 p.m., more than a 500-year storm.

Fire Station No. 2, on the other side of Birmingham, had over a 400-year storm event on August 24, 2023.

The 178 flood reports from August 24, 2023 included surface flooding, clean water in basements and sewer backups.

Birmingham has two water tanks that hold 500,000 gallons of water. Pumps lift water to the top in the evening and release it slowly through the day.

Birmingham has five Southeastern Oakland County Water Authority connections. Four sit along 14 Mile Road and one is at Quarton Lake.

Utility gas heats 7,850 of Birmingham's 9,440 occupied homes (83 percent). Electricity heats 1,466 homes (16 percent).

A SEMCOG grant pays to replace all mercury vapor streetlights in Birmingham, and 62 downtown fixtures, with LED. DTE does the work.

After the August 24, 2023 rain, Birmingham received 178 reports of flooding.

On April 23, 2024 Birmingham found a sinkhole on Willits between Chester and Greenwood. A 12-inch sewer had collapsed beneath it.

The April 2024 Willits sewer collapse sent less than 100 gallons of surcharge into a catch basin that leads to the Rouge River. Crews installed a bypass and scheduled the repair for the next day.

In August 2021 Birmingham commissioners called the summer's rainfall historic and used it to set sewer maintenance priorities.

Birmingham uses its water event tracking form to map where basements flooded. It sends the sewer conditions in those areas to the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner for review. The form is not a claim.

After a Birmingham basement backup, the city advises the owner to hire a plumber to check the lateral for roots or defects and to record video of the pipe. Public Services then checks flow in the public main.

Birmingham engineers rated sewer, water main and road condition and presented the results to the City Commission in September 2021.

Birmingham claims go to Meadowbrook Claims Service, the administrator for the Michigan Municipal League liability pool. The city says promises by any other city employee are not binding.

During Birmingham road reconstruction, the Engineering Department reviews existing sewers and capacity. It is also looking for ways to add green infrastructure.

Birmingham Public Services looks after about 25,000 street and park trees.

Birmingham Engineering issues permits for sidewalks, drive approaches, curb cuts, soil erosion control, street obstructions and storm-water runoff.

Birmingham Engineering reviews building plans for new development and gives technical advice on drainage.

Birmingham runs a water event notification line at (248) 530-1703 for residents who got water in a basement during a storm.

Birmingham residents can report dumping or suspicious pipes that lead to ditches, lakes or rivers anonymously to the state Pollution Emergency Alerting System (PEAS) hotline, 800-292-4706.