The Best Way To Pay Your Water Bill

    In an ideal world, Detroiters would not have to pay for water.  That burden would be placed upon our four million suburban neighbors who have decided to live so far away from the supply.  Just like the several hundreds of dollars in oil dividends paid to every Alaskan resident each year, a similar system for Detroit's water would act as an incentive to not only stay in Detroit, but also to move here.  Unfortunately, implementation of this idea is probably a long way off.  In the meantime, if we must pay for our water, I'd like to recommend doing it in person.
    Unlike the payment center for DTE Energy, which was designed to make you feel ashamed for waiting until the last day possible to pay your bill—its ad hoc appearance similar to that of an airport hotel's conference room—the Water Board Building's opulence fills you with a great sense of civic pride, not the least of which is derived from the mural adorning the ceiling in the customer service center.

    A ring of marble columns surround you as you stand below the mural which looms two stories above.  Painted by artists from the George Hamilton Thomas Studios, the mural was unveiled during the building's official opening in 1928.  (The entire 23-story building was completed in just seven months).  Although it depicts scenes from the city's founding and subsequent battles over its ownership, the main focus is water, as exemplified by the dominant figure of Neptune, Roman god of the sea.  There are also quaint scenes of the beginnings of Detroit's waterworks featuring horse-driven pumps, and the laying of the original wooden water mains in 1827.
    We're lucky to have access to the world's largest supply of fresh surface water.  We're also lucky to have access to this Louis Kamper designed building; one which had, until 1982, a freight elevator run hydraulically via its direct connection to the city's water mains.  We're also lucky to have what the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department calls "the highest quality drinking water in the nation." We're just not lucky enough to get it for free.