Center Line is completely surrounded by Warren. It covers 1.752 square miles and had 8,552 residents in 2020. Van Dyke Avenue splits it north to south, 10 Mile Road splits it east to west, and I-696 runs along the north edge. Half of the 3,754 units predate 1960, 15.5 percent are in 20-plus-unit buildings, and 47.8 percent of households rent. So much of the plumbing here is a landlord's job, from shared drain risers to water heaters in rented bungalows, while owners watch the city's lead service line review.
Reaching Center Line by Van Dyke or 10 Mile Road
From Janet Ave, we take Groesbeck Highway southwest through Warren to East 10 Mile Road and head west, or run 14 Mile Road west to Van Dyke and turn south.
- Call (207) 419-2600. Tell us if it's a rental and which units are affected.
- In an apartment building, we trace the shared drain or main involved before opening anything.
- Center Line issues its own plumbing and sewer permits and requires contractor registration, so permitted work goes through the Building Department on East 10 Mile Road.
- For a service line, we look where it enters at the meter and tell you what can and can't be confirmed from inside.
Bungalows, 20-unit buildings and the Red Run Drain
The median Center Line home was built in 1960. By decade, 9.6 percent date to 1939 or earlier, 15.8 percent to the 1940s, 25.0 percent to the 1950s and 19.3 percent to the 1960s, with only 2.9 percent built since 2000. Detached single-family houses make up 57.7 percent of the stock.
The older houses are mostly bungalows and Cape Cods with full basements, which tends to mean galvanized water pipe, cast iron drain stacks and clay sewer laterals. The 1960s apartment buildings usually run copper supply with cast iron risers and shared mains. That's the era's pattern, not a survey of your building.
Storm water travels in separated storm sewers. The city owns 51 known points where its lines discharge into county storm sewers, with no direct outfalls, and the whole city lies in the Red Run Drain subwatershed, fed by Bear Creek and draining to the Clinton River. After the federal flood disasters of 2014, 2021 and 2023, FEMA owner registrations from ZIP 48015 were about 270, 17 and 110, with renters left out.
Curb box digs and service line letters from Public Works
Center Line's water comes from GLWA's Northeast treatment plant, and GLWA adds a corrosion inhibitor. The city says it still has some lead service lines, found in homes built before the 1950s and normally single-family, and it is rebuilding its inventory from records, inspections and meter visits. The city owns the line from the main to the curb stop. From there to the house is yours.
If your letter listed the line as unknown or galvanized previously connected to lead, a city contractor checks the outside material with one or two small holes, about 12 inches wide and 4 to 5 feet deep, on each side of the curb box. Those checks were set to start in spring 2025, and they don't settle the pipe inside your foundation.
Plumbing for owners and landlords off Van Dyke
Main water line repair and replacement
The city has lead lines in some pre-1950s homes, and owners are responsible from the curb stop to the house. If the city's dig finds lead outside, your stretch is the next question.
Backflow testing and prevention
City rules require backflow protection on lawn irrigation, tested by a licensed plumbing contractor at the owner's cost. A second sprinkler meter doesn't change that.
Sewer inspection and line repair
Half of the housing predates 1960, and Center Line issues its own sewer permits for lateral work. Clay joints that old let roots in.
Drain cleaning and clog removal
15.5% of units sit in buildings of 20 or more, where one blocked main can back up several apartments. Clearing it starts at the lowest cleanout, not the top-floor sink.
Water heater installation
With 47.8% of households renting, many water heaters here are a landlord's job, permitted through the city. Shared basement heaters fail for several units at once.
Sump pump installation and repair
About 270 owner households in 48015 registered with FEMA after the August 2014 flood. In a full-basement bungalow, a working sump and a protected floor drain are the usual defense.
A toilet running all night in a rental wastes water, and our post on running toilet causes shows what to check first.
Van Dyke, 10 Mile Road and the old trail to Utica
The city's name comes from the middle of three trails out of Fort Detroit, the one that ran to Utica. Streetcars later ran up Van Dyke, with the last stop at Ten Mile Road. It became a village in 1925 and a city in 1936. St. Clement Catholic Church, founded in 1854, and its cemetery both carry Michigan historical markers. Center Line High School serves most of the city, the Parks and Recreation office is on Lawrence, and the whole city falls in ZIP 48015.
Curb stop, sprinkler and rental questions near Van Dyke
Center Line says my service line is "galvanized previously connected to lead." What now?
Records show galvanized pipe that was once joined to a lead section, so the line needs a closer look. The city's contractor checks the outside material with small digs beside the curb box. Your part runs from the curb stop to the house, so have a plumber look where the pipe enters the basement. Until it's settled, a filter certified to remove lead is a sensible step for drinking and cooking water.
Do I need a backflow test for my lawn sprinkler system?
Yes. Center Line's residential cross connection program requires backflow protection on lawn irrigation, and DPW inspects exterior water connections. Testing, repair and installation have to be done by a licensed plumbing contractor certified in backflow testing, at the resident's expense, under the 2017 State Plumbing Act. Call (207) 419-2600 to check whether we can test your device.
I own a Center Line rental. Which permits apply to a plumbing repair?
A city plumbing permit for most work, and a sewer permit if the job touches the lateral. Center Line issues both itself through the Building Department on East 10 Mile Road, and contractors must be registered with the city. The rental also needs the city's non-owner-occupied property registration.
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