Kalamazoo's Department of Public Services is one of the City's largest departments and provides many of the services residents use every day. Water, wastewater, residential services (bulk trash, brush, recycling, leaf pickup), snow removal, environmental services, cemeteries, fleet management, engineering, and road construction & maintenance are all handled by Public Services. The Department is organized into several divisions, each with a specific focus.
As a recipient of federal financial assistance, the City of Kalamazoo must provide access to individuals with limited ability to speak, write, or understand the English language. The City of Kalamazoo complies with federal Title VI and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) guidelines. Please review our
pdf
Title VI Non-Discrimination Plan
(5.75 MB)
and
pdf
LEP Plan
(1.88 MB)
for more information.
Asset Management Plans:
- Summary of SAW Stormwater Asset Management Plan, December 2020 (185 KB)
- Summary of SAW Wastewater Asset Management Plan, December 2020 (195 KB)
- pdf City of Kalamazoo Wastewater Asset Management Plan, 2020 (445 KB)
- pdf City of Kalamazoo Stormwater Asset Management Plan,2020 (535 KB)
Public Works
The Public Works Division is comprised of professional engineers and technicians who design, inspect, and maintain infrastructure components in the City. Staff focus on building and maintaining a safe, efficient, and long lasting infrastructure in Kalamazoo. The Division is responsible for street improvements and maintenance, sidewalks, snow and ice removal, forestry and leaf pickup, traffic signs and signals, the snowmelt system, and right-of-way permitting.
The City of Kalamazoo maintains and operates 83 miles of major and 166 miles of local streets, 20 bridges, over 15,517 signs, 80 traffic signals, and 4 flashing beacons at intersections. The City provides routine maintenance services, including snow and ice removal for Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) state trunklines within the City limits. The City also maintain traffic signals and flashing beacons for the Road Commission of Kalamazoo County and jointly share traffic engineering staff between the agencies.
You can report issues with traffic signals in the City of surrounding area (such as flashing red signals, burned out bulbs, timing & detection concerns, etc) online by using this form. Issues related to streets and signage can also be reported online here.
Water Resources
The City of Kalamazoo Public Water Supply System is the second largest groundwater-based drinking water system in Michigan and is ranked one of the lowest for water rates out of the twelve largest systems within the state. The City has a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) approved Wellhead Protection Program, and in 2014 was awarded the Exemplary Source Water Protection Award by the American Water Works Association. Kalamazoo has also been designated a Groundwater Guardian Community by the Groundwater Foundation every year since 1998. Kalamazoo's water system provides 17 million gallons of water on an average day to 121,000 customers withing 10 jurisdictions. The system includes approximately 813 miles of watermain, 5,757 hydrants.
Every year, the City of Kalamazoo publishes a Water Quality Report in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. However, much of the information provided in this report, along with additional monitoring and testing conducted throughout the year, are provided as an extra service to our customers. The City is also in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act Lead & Copper Rule and has had a proactive annual lead and copper service replacement program for over twenty years. The City's laboratory also offers free lead & copper testing for concerned customers testing by calling (269) 337-8550.
Wastewater
The City of Kalamazoo Water Reclamation Plant (KWRP) provides treatment services to more than 150,000 residents in 18 Kalamazoo-area municipal jurisdictions. The KWRP uses an innovative treatment system to treat a variety of pollutants in concentrations that most other plants cannot. The plant incorporates powdered activated carbon (PAC) treatment into its secondary process, which enables treatment of wastewater from a variety of industries without the need for pretreatment. More information about the KWRP and wastewater treatment is available here.