Is Des Moines tap water safe?
Drinking water supplied by Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) meets or surpasses the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of Iowa water quality standards. The water supplied by DMWW is safe from the time it leaves the treatment facility, through the plumbing system and out of your tap.
Where does Des Moines get their water?
From its early days as the home of the Meskwaki, and over the course of nearly two hundred years as a major U.S. fort and then Iowa’s capital city, Des Moines and its surrounding area has relied on abundant clean drinking water from two rivers: the Des Moines and the Raccoon, both tributaries of the Mississippi.
What is my customer number for Des Moines Water Works?
(515) 283-8700
If you are unable to pay your water bill, please contact Customer Service at (515) 283-8700 to discuss payment arrangement eligibility or connect with community relief agencies.
How many acres is waterworks in Des Moines Iowa?
1,500 acres
Located on Fleur Drive directly across from Gray’s Lake, Des Moines Water Works Park covers nearly 1,500 acres of open wooded areas. The park stretches from Fleur Drive, west of 63rd Street, bounded by the Raccoon River on the north edge, and George Flagg Parkway to the south.
Does Iowa have good water?
Reports show Iowans have access to clean water every day—even with Iowa being the number one producer of hogs in the United States. It’s a very different story in Bangladesh, where millions of people lack access to safe water due to bacterial pollution from human fecal matter and arsenic.
Is water in Iowa safe to drink?
Iowans can continue to use and drink water from their tap as usual. The Iowa DNR recommends obtaining your potable water from your tap as much as possible to conserve bottled water for emergency situations if needed.
Why is West Des Moines water so bad?
The chlorine levels had to be increased in order to combat the ammonia levels in the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers, the main sources for the Des Moines water supply. More chlorine had to be used to maintain adequate disinfection in the water supply, hence the unpleasant chemical smell and taste.
Who owns Des Moines Waterworks?
water rate payers
The utility is owned by the water rate payers. The Board of Water Works Trustees of the City of Des Moines, Iowa, consists of five members, appointed by the Mayor of the City of Des Moines for a term of six years. The Board of Water Works Trustees appoints Des Moines Water Works CEO and General Manager.
How do I cancel my Des Moines Water Works?
How much notice do you need to turn off my water service? Please contact Des Moines Water Works at (515) 283-8700 one working day prior to the day you will need water service. In most cases, you do not need to visit our office to stop or transfer water service.
What is wrong with Iowa water?
The major water quality problem in Iowa is nonpoint source pollution, and it has landed a number of streams and lakes on Iowa’s impaired waters list. To truly improve Iowa’s water quality, we need to clean up watersheds to keep sediment, nutrients and bacteria from washing into streams and lakes.
How bad is Iowa’s water?
While the amount of phosphorus in Iowa’s waterways seems to have leveled off, the problem with nitrates has gotten much worse. “Statewide, we’ve probably doubled the amounts in our streams since around 2003,” Jones said. The elevated levels of nitrogen in the water can cause explosive algae blooms.
Does Des Moines water have lead?
Generally, finished drinking water contains no lead. Lead may be present in piping and plumbing fixtures found in customers’ homes. To see if your property is in a Des Moines or Polk County neighborhood that has the greatest potential for a lead service line, view the Potential Lead Service Lines in Des Moines map.
Where does Des Moines get its drinking water?
Des Moines Water Works employee Bill Blubaugh collects a water sample from the Raccoon River on June 3 in Des Moines, Iowa. Each day the utility analyzes samples from the Raccoon River and others from the nearby Des Moines River as it works to deliver drinking water to more than 500,000 people in Iowa’s capital city and its suburbs.
How much did Des Moines spend to clean up the Raccoon River?
Des Moines Water Works employee Bill Blubaugh marks a water sample collected from the Raccoon River on June 3. After spending $18 million over the last two decades on a system to treat the tainted river water, it’s frustrating to pay out millions more for something other cities wouldn’t imagine, say utility officials.
What does Bill Blubaugh do in Des Moines?
In the dim light just after dawn, Bill Blubaugh parks his Des Moines Water Works pickup truck, grabs a dipper and a couple plastic bottles and walks down a boat ramp to the Raccoon River, where he scoops up samples from a waterway that cuts through some of the nation’s most intensely farmed land.
How can we solve Iowa’s water runoff problem?
Mike Naig, Iowa’s secretary of agriculture, acknowledges the runoff problem but supports the state’s voluntary Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, which uses limited state and federal funding to pay for water quality projects on farmland.
