The levees operated and maintained by the Metro East Sanitary District have never failed in 100-plus years.  Designed and built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide the 500-year level of flood protection, the levees protect thousands of lives, homes and jobs.  Hundreds of employers throughout the Great American Bottoms provide jobs numbering in the tens of thousands, with the 10 largest private, single-site job centers protected by MESD accounting go for more than 9,000 jobs.

134.26 square miles or 85,927 acres in the American Bottoms plus all property, homes and jobs "above the bluffs" which would be impacted if highways, railroads, communications, drinking water treatment systems and regional infrastructure were flooded by the Mississippi River, cutting everyone off from the Missouri side of St. Louis.

Click here for a map of the District protected by MESD

Money is obtained by direct tax on the assessed valuation of all real property within the District.

MESD does not use the money from taxes to fund the sewage treatment costs.  All sewage treatment costs are paid by the users of this service.

To maintain water for the district, MESD owns 2,776 acres and employs approximately forty-five (45) full time employees.

Sewage treatment is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater.

Sewage is created by residences, institutions, businesses and industrial establishments.  Raw Influent (sewage) is liquid waste from toilets, baths, showers, kitchens, sinks, etc.

The sewage is transported via a network of pipes and pump stations to the Granite City Regional Treatment Plant.  Sewage treatment is subject to local, state and federal regulations and standards.

Typically, after the waste water is treated, it is clean enough to be discharged into the stream, river, bay, lagoon or wetland.

A user fee, based on the water usage, is charged to residents, institutions, businesses or industrial establishments using the service.  The District cannot use property tax money for this service.  All sewage treatment costs are paid by the users of this service.

The basic user charge for users with water usage 5,000 cubic feet or less shall be based on water usage as recorded by water meters and/or sewage meters for wastes having an average concentration of:

1. A five day, 20 degree centigrade (20 C) biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of 250 mg/L.

1. A suspended solids (SS) content of 300 mg/L.

The basic user charge for users with water usage 5,000 cubic feet or less shall cover costs of treatment of actual flow of average strength sewage (BOD = 250 mg/L and SS = 300 mg/L), operation and maintenance costs, replacement costs, cost of treating flow contributed by infiltration and inflow, administrative costs and bad debt expense costs. For users, where there exists reasonable evidence, as determined by the President, that a user's discharge has a higher concentration or less, such user may be required to install and operate monitoring equipment approved by MESD to accurately determine actual BOD and SS concentrations in the discharge. If the waste does exceed the average concentration for users with water usage 5,000 cubic feet or less, a surcharge shall be levied for all excess BOD and all excess SS.  The surcharge shall be based on metered flow and measured concentrations of BOD and SS.

The basic user charge for users with water usage at least 5,000 cubic feet or more shall be based on water usage as recorded by water meters and/or sewage meters for wastes having an average concentration of:

1. A five day, 20 degree centigrade (20 C) biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of 250 mg/L.

1. A suspended solids (SS) content of 300 mg/L.

The basic user charge for users with water usage at least 5,000 cubic feet or more shall cover costs of treatment of actual flow of average strength sewage (BOD = 250 mg/L and SS = 300 mg/L), operation and maintenance costs, replacement costs, cost of treating flow contributed by infiltration and inflow, administrative costs and bad debt expense costs. A surcharge will be levied to all users whose wastes exceed the average concentration of BOD = 250 mg/L and SS = 300 mg/L. The surcharge shall be based on metered flow and measured concentrations of BOD and SS.

The surcharge rates shall cover actual additional treatment costs. The surcharge rate for excess BOD and SS shall be the same as the current Granite City sewer use charge rate for surcharge, and be updated and changed annually.

Total suspended solids (TSS) refers to small solid particles, (like grease) which remain in suspension in water as a colloid or due to the motion of the water. It is used as one indicator of water quality.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD, also called biological oxygen demand) is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed (i.e., demanded) by aerobic biological organisms to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period.

Pool Adjustment Requirements:

Any pool must have a 4 foot or higher wall in order to qualify for an adjustment from MESD.

1.  The pool must be up year round.

2.  The customer usage must be close to double the amount they pay normally.

If both conditions are met, MESD will do a field report to verify the information and place on file.

If a file already exists, then the an average of your account is done to come up with the adjustable amount.