Harrison Township covers about 23.8 square miles, and 9.5 of them are water. Near the shore, groundwater sits close to the surface, sump pits fill fast, and a basement drain that would be a nuisance inland can turn into standing water. The median build year is 1980 against Fraser's 1972, so we see more copper and PVC than cast iron. We cover the whole 48045 ZIP, including canal streets off Jefferson, subdivisions near Selfridge Air National Guard Base, and the lakeside communities of Lakeside and Saint Clair Haven.
Canal lots, seawalls and a lake that set records
Lake St. Clair set record monthly levels in 2019 and again in May 2020, when Fox 2 reported it 2.75 feet above average. In May 2019 the township bought more than 150,000 sandbags and 1,200 tons of sand in about two weeks, and some residents had water at their front doors. Canal homes took the worst of it. In June 2020 one canal resident's seawall stood about a foot taller than her neighbors', and a marina owner said his pumps had run nonstop for weeks.
High lake water means a sump pump that cycles all spring and a pit that never quite empties. Pumps wear out faster on that duty, and a single pump with no backup leaves the basement exposed in an outage. Floor drains matter as well. During the January 2017 interceptor collapse under 15 Mile in Fraser, the county asked Harrison and ten other communities, plus Selfridge, to cut water use sharply because the sewer had almost no room left. A backwater valve on the main drain keeps a system failure like that out of your basement.
The housing splits by era: 21.2% from the 1970s, 16.3% from the 1980s, 17.2% since 2000, and 4.3% mobile homes, which need their own approach to supply lines and freeze protection.
Heading east on 16 Mile to the lake
From Janet Ave we take Groesbeck northeast to Metropolitan Parkway, which is 16 Mile, and follow it east through Clinton Township, past I-94, toward Jefferson. Homes at the north end near Selfridge are often easier from Hall Road, which ends at I-94 on the Chesterfield line.
When you call, tell us whether the house is on a canal and whether the sump pump is running right now. If water is rising in the basement, don't step into it until power to anything sitting in the water is off; we'll walk you through that on the phone. On site we check the pit, the float and check valve, where the discharge ends up, and whether the floor drain has a backwater valve. Then you get options: a replacement pump, a second pump on battery, or a valve on the drain.
Our sump pump checklist for spring thaw covers what to test yourself each March, and backwater valve vs. sump pump explains which problem each one solves.
What lakeshore homes call us for
Sump pump installation and repair
Lake St. Clair set record highs in 2019 and May 2020, and one marina owner's pumps ran nonstop for weeks. On the shore, a battery backup pump is part of the setup.
Sewer inspection and line repair
When the 2017 interceptor collapse left the county sewer with almost no capacity, Harrison was asked to cut water use. A camera run shows where a backwater valve would sit.
Main water line repair and replacement
84 homes on Crocker Boulevard are slated to move off the Mount Clemens water line to township water. Each move means a new service tie-in on the house side.
Water heater installation
About half the homes date from 1960 to 1989, so many are on a second or third water heater, often with original shutoffs and fittings worth replacing on the same visit.
Drain cleaning and clog removal
Slow floor drains in canal-side basements often trace to a lateral sitting in wet lakeshore soil, where shifted joints catch debris. Filming the line after clearing it shows whether it will return.
Burst and frozen pipe repair
Mobile homes make up 4.3% of township housing, with supply lines under the floor behind the skirting. When heat tape or skirting fails in a January cold snap, those lines freeze first.
Crocker Boulevard is its own case. The Mount Clemens water plant actually sits inside Harrison Township, on the lake at the end of Crocker, and the homes along that road have drawn from its line. In September 2024 the township approved engineering to move those 84 homes onto its own GLWA water.
Near Selfridge and the mouth of the Clinton River
Selfridge Air National Guard Base, first built in 1917, fills much of the township's north end. The Clinton River empties into Lake St. Clair inside the township, and Lake St. Clair Metropark, called Metro Beach until 2011, sits at the east end of Metropolitan Parkway on Jefferson. Between them are the neighborhoods we mean when we say Harrison: canal streets, 1970s and 1980s subdivisions, all of it inside L'Anse Creuse Public Schools.
Not all of it is single-family. Detached houses make up 54.7% of units, 6.8% sit in buildings of 20 or more units, and 27.5% of occupied homes are rented. In a stacked lakeside condo, a supply line that lets go upstairs shows up in the ceiling below, so the first question on the phone is which unit's shutoff controls it.
Sewage from every neighborhood here flows through the county's Macomb Interceptor Drain Drainage District to the GLWA plant in Detroit.
Harrison Township sump pump and canal home questions
Why does my sump pump run so much in Harrison Township?
Near the shore the water table follows Lake St. Clair, and the lake hit record levels in 2019 and 2020. When groundwater stays high, the drain tile keeps feeding the pit even in dry weeks. A pump on that duty needs a working check valve, a discharge that carries water well away from the house, and a backup for power outages. If it runs nonstop with no rain, have it checked.
I live on Crocker Boulevard. What happens to my water service?
Eighty-four homes on Crocker have been served by the Mount Clemens water line. In September 2024 township trustees approved engineering to connect them to township water because Mount Clemens plans to move to GLWA. No completion date has been published. Expect a new service tie-in, and ask the township water and sewer department who pays for work on the private side.
Cities around Harrison Township we also cover
See every city we serve from Fraser · A sump pump checklist for before the spring thaw · Backwater valve or sump pump and which problem each one solves