page_title: Des Moines Water Works
section_title: 21st century
hierarchical_section_title: Des Moines Water Works / History / 21st century
caption_attribution_description: The Des Moines Water Works (DMWW, water utility provider) building at 2201 George Flagg Parkway in Des Monies, Iowa.
context_page_description: The Des Moines Water Works is a publicly owned, municipal water utility founded 1871 in Des Moines, which provides water to half a million residents of the greater Des Moines metropolitan area. As of 2017, it has three treatment facilities.
  In March 2015, the DMWW board sued three Iowa counties for violating the Clean Water Act with high nitrate discharges, which contribute to hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.
context_section_description: In May 2000, a 25 mgd facility, the Water Treatment Plant at Maffitt Lake, renamed the L.D. McMullen Water Treatment Plant in 2007, began operation using five radial collector wells as its main source, and additionally also from Maffitt Reservoir.
  In August 2003, a monthly pump record was set at 2,262.82 million gallons. 
  In June 2006, ground was broken for a third treatment plant with a capacity of 10 mgd, the Saylorville Water Treatment Plant, using membrane technology to soften and purify the water. 
  In June 2006, a daily pumpage record of 90.19 mg was set.
  During the Iowa flood of 2008, the Raccoon River crested at 12.5 feet above flood stage, but DMWW operated normally due to levee work and flood preparation.
  In April 2011, the Saylorville Water Treatment Plant began operating, serving customers north of Des Moines. First, oxidation precipitates dissolved iron and manganese in shallow groundwater. Ultrafiltration (UF) membranes filter out particulate i.e. undissolved material in the water. Thereafter, part of the water will go through the reverse osmosis membranes, which have smaller pores than the UF membranes and filter out dissolved material in the water, targeting calcium and magnesium ions (water hardness) and for nitrate reduction.
  In July 2012, a new monthly pumpage record was set at 2,544.12 million gallons and a new record for daily pumpage at  million gallons.
  In March 2015, the DMWW board voted to sue Calhoun, Buena Vista and Sac county for high nitrate discharges into the Raccoon River, and their failure to obtain a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit or state permit in violation of the Clean Water Act. The lawsuit contends that tile drainage lines exacerbate pollution by moving nutrients more quickly to waterways. DMWW must comply with the maximum contaminant level (MCL) standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency, and pay to remove the nitrate and in the winter of 2014/2015 DMWW spent $540,000 for nitrate removal. DMWW wants agricultural polluters to abide by the Clean Water Act, which they are exempted from, because agricultural runoff comes from multiple point sources across a large region. The Iowa Farm Bureau and Governor Terry Branstad are against the lawsuit and the Iowa Drainage District Association wants to help the lawsuit. Most Iowans have supported the lawsuit, up to 71% of urban residents, but most did not think water quality was the state's most important issue. Even the Iowa Soybean Association has conceded, that more ways to finance the 2013 Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy plan (cutting the nitrogen and phosphorus by 45 percent) need to be found in light of the problem in the Gulf of Mexico dead zone. In March 2017, a federal district court dismissed the DMWW claims saying the Iowa legislature was "the appropriate body to address the state’s water quality crisis".
  In February 2017, a bill called Dismantling the Des Moines Water Works - HF 484/SF 456 was proposed to move assets and power to local municipalities. DMWW´s Bill Stowe called it "clearly retribution for our lawsuit". At the end of the legislative session in April 2017, the bill was moved to unfinished business in the House and was funneled in the Senate.
caption: DMWW building, 2016
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