Thomas Township Department of Public Works
251 Miller Ct. (989) 781-6438 (8 AM to 5 PM)
FOR AFTER HOURS/EMERGENCIES – CALL (989) 529-0041
Thomas Township strives to provide a reliable supply of high-quality water at the most reasonable price possible to our customers. Thomas Township also pledges prompt, courteous, and responsive customer service.
Water System History
Thomas Township’s original water distribution system began with eleven water wells serviced by three well pumping stations that were completed in 1956 and located in the northwestern area of the Township. The combined water production rate was 720,000 gallons per day. Constructed between 1956 and 1960, the original water system contained 24 miles of water main, 178 fire hydrants and roughly 300 system and fire hydrant valves. This system serviced a mostly residential and light business demand. A three hundred-thousand elevated water storage tank was also constructed in the primary business and residential area of the Township for fire protection. As Thomas Township began to grow with new residential developments in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, a more dependable water supply was needed to meet future demands. In 1969, the Township contracted with the City of Saginaw to provide a high quality, treated surface water to supply these demands. From 1969 through 1977, the initial City of Saginaw water service connections were completed with two Tittabawassee River water main crossings (located at Tittabawassee and Gratiot Roads) and construction of the existing one and a half million-gallon ground storage tank with a water booster station.
In the 1980’s and throughout the 1990’s, industrial demands began to outstrip our water capacity necessitating water system improvements primarily to supply the growing needs of Hemlock Semi-Conductor and Health Industries Material sites. Water system improvements doubling the water supply to the Township were completed during this period. Finally, during the period of 1999 through 2012, industrial demands again increased making additional water system improvements necessary to ultimately provide over 1.25 billion gallons of water per year.
As a consequence of the rapid expansion of the Township’s water distribution system, Thomas Township is currently home to one of the most up-to-date, well looped and robust water systems in the Saginaw metropolitan area. Throughout the past, the Thomas Township Board of Trustees has acknowledged the importance of, and has implemented a purposeful policy to loop together dead-ended water lines. Because of these improvements as well as the “age” of the water system, the Township has experienced very few water main breaks or other emergency conditions in the past decade however as they occur, these incidences have been reflected in our criticality assessment.
Currently, Thomas Township provides water to around 5,000 customers. In 2020, the daily average daily flow rate was 2.15 million gallons per day with a peak daily flow of 4.96 million gallons.