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.
History
The Des Moines Water Works are a municipal water utility, owned by the about 500,000 residents of the greater Des Moines area, whom it supplies with water. It is Iowa´s largest water utility and among the largest 100 utilities in the country.[1]
In 1871, Frederick M. Hubbell and Jefferson S. Polk organized the Des Moines Water Company with $3000.[2]:5 B. F. Allen, helped to raise $250,000 and became the company's first president.[3] The company passed to Polk & Hubbell, and in 1880 to a joint-stock company,[2] where a stockholder-elected board of five directors appointed a president, secretary, and one member, with the exclusive rights to operate the company for 40 years. The Water Company was built on Walnut Street in Des Moines using Holly system hydrants, which could throw six streams at a time. The city demanded 10 miles of pipe within 10 months and "hydrants were placed for citizens or passersby to draw water for purposes of drinking". Pumps discharged about 2 million gallons per day (mgd). In its first year from June 1872 through June 1873, the Water Works´ operating costs were $5,770 and consumers paid no city taxes for water use.[3]
Supply well for Des Moines Water Works, 1880
Water came from an iron filtering tank in the gravel and sand of the Raccoon River near the water's edge, 12 feet in diameter and 14 feet high, open at the bottom and closed at the top with perforations to let water in. The iron filters constantly plugged and after 10 years, in 1883, an infiltration gallery system to use groundwater along the river was planned, the first of its kind in the U.S. From 1884-1885, 750 feet of a wooden gallery were constructed, and the iron filters were abolished. A small primitive dam on the Raccoon River increased the water level near the gallery. In 1880, the name was changed to Des Moines Water Works Company. In 1891, the first water tower was constructed, holding 530,000 gallons of water, used until 1931, and torn down in 1939.[3]
1900–1919
In the early 1900s, many people who died of typhoid, were those with private wells. In 1902, a new water gallery was begun out of large concrete rings 5 feet in diameter and 2 feet long, held slightly apart to allow water seeping in. Flooding delayed continuation until 1904 until completion in 1910. In June 1903, a flood was then said to be "the worst in history" with business suspended, hundreds became unemployed and homeless. In 1910, ponds were constructed in the park began that could augment the water supply and in 1918, a pumping station built on the park pumped water from the river into the ponds.[3]
From 1872 to 1919, "there were constant complaints by the city council and newspapers". The city tried to buy the Water Works, but either could not raise the funds or could not get the votes needed. In 1897, the newspaper and city council attacked water quality "to lower the company's asking price". In 1898, the people voted a proposal to buy the company down. In 1911, the vote passed, but Denman wouldn't sell at the price. Denman explained publicly why he could not accept the city's offer and how the city hadn't paid its water bills for several years. In 1911 the City passed an ordinance for standards of water purity. and in 1912 DMWW started adding hypochlorite and began a water testing laboratory with a chemist, a bacteriologist, and an assistant. In 1917, an outside source conducted a study on the conditions of the Des Moines river and Raccoon Rivers, where the main pollution of the latter "was said to come from nearby privies, sewage from upstream residents, septic tanks, and a car shop in Valley Junction". In 1913, a price agreement was reached and in 1914 a vote to purchase passed. The vote to issue bonds did not pass until November 1918, and at that unfavorable time for the bond market, the city could not sell enough bonds, and sued for an extension of time.[3]
In 1919, the city bought the water company. The company's name was changed again to Des Moines Water Works (DMWW). It was formed as a public utility owned by ratepayers under a new Code of Iowa, Section 388. Charles Denman, who had been running the company since 1896, became General Manager with a salary of $8,000.[3]
1920–1999
In 1920 a new pumping station at its present site began operation. In 1923, an attorney prepared a bill for the legislature to abolish the City Councils supervision of the DMWW Board. The Board is responsible to run DMWW and the Mayor appoints Board members when vacancies occur with the City Council only approving the appointments. In 1928, Denman recommended adding a softening plant to save customers money spent on soap and wear and tear on clothes. Arguments for and against it continued with the Board voting to delay building until 1938 and further delayed by World War II. In 1929, the Hazen water tower, Des Moines only water tower, 110 feet high was constructed of concrete and steel, holding 2 million gallons of water. In 1931, the benefit of fluoride in preventing tooth decay opened a controversy for three decades. Between 1933 and 1935, during the Great Depression, about 3500 men could not pay their water bills, and Denman offered them work often for several days, laying water mains, grade park roads, inspect hydrants. Seven thousand plantings of trees and shrubs were made yearly from seedlings grown in the greenhouse. In 1942, DMWW bought 650 acres of farmland southwest of Des Moines to build an emergency reservoir, the Dale Maffitt Reservoir, which was opened for fishing in 1948. In 1945, another flood and in 1947 a record-breaking flood occurred. From 1948-49, the softening plant was built, called the filter building which housed the laboratory and the water rate increased for the first time in 50 years. In 1950, levees around the Fleur Drive treatment plant were built. In 1959, DMWW started fluoridating its water at the request of the city council.[3]
In 1955, the Nollen Standpipe and the Wilchinski Standpipe were built. Land for a north standpipe was purchased in 1955, but construction did not begin until 1959. In 1973, this standpipe, near Sears at Merle Hay Mall, was named Tenny standpipe. In 1957, Iowa Light and Power installed a substation at DMWW and electric motors and pumps began to be used ending steam power. In 1958, eight more filters and two more softening basins were added to the filter plant and Congress authorized construction of a dam at Saylorville, Iowa on the Des Moines River for Saylorville Lake which allowed the Army Corps of Engineers of the Rock Island District to provide flood control for both the Des Moines River system, including downtown Des Moines, and also the Mississippi River system but groundbreaking took until July 1965 and becoming fully operational in 1977. In 1972, DMWW installed water meter reading equipment on the outside of homes. In 1985, an office building was built. In 1992, the eight tanks of a nitrate removal facility were built. During the Great Flood of 1993, the Raccoon River crested at a record 14.7 feet above flood stage, forcing the Fleur Drive treatment plant to be shut down and residents of the greater Des Moines metropolitan area were without any water service for 11 days, and non-potable water for 18 days. The height of the levees was increased to a height of 31 feet. In 1998, ground was broken for a new treatment plant, called the Maffitt Treatment Plant.[3]
21st century
DMWW building, 2016
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 90.19mg 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.[3]
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.[4] 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.[3]
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.[5] The lawsuit contends that tile drainage lines exacerbate pollution by moving nutrients more quickly to waterways.[6] 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.[7] 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.[7] 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.[8] 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".[9]
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".[6] 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.[10]
System Information
As of March 2017[update], the DMWW pumps water from three conditioning plants through about 1,360 miles (2,190km) of buried water main with 9,800 valves. It maintains over 80,000 water meters and automated reading devices, about 10,000 fire hydrants and 7 water storage facilities.[1] Maximum daily demand was 96.64 MGD in July 2012.[3] The water pressure averages 50 psi but ranges from 35 psi to more than 100 psi depending on the location. Water towers help stabilize pressure in some zones. Water is pumped inside when water demand is low and flows back out to satisfy higher demands. Des Moines is divided into four pressure zones, with dedicated pumping stations.[11]
DMWW operates Water Works Park, an urban park of about 1,500 acres near downtown Des Moines, and Maffitt Reservoir with 1,300 acres of wooded land and a 200-acre lake.[1]As of 2016[update] DMWW sold water wholesale to more than 20 regional entities.[12]West Des Moines and Waukee have been using 20 percent of DMWW clean water or 12.5 million gallons of water a day. West Des Moines Water Works, which produces 70% of the water West Des Moines consumes, found in 2015 that the projected water demand would meet its plant´s production limits in 2017. Both it and Waukee consider tapping the Raccoon River alluvial aquifer after DMWW increased its rate by 10% in 2016.[12]
Budget
As of 2017[update] DMWW assets were $250 million.[6] The 2017 budget assumes $62 million of operating revenue and operating expenses of $41.6 million, capital infrastructure costs of $29.6 million and $5.3 million for debt repayment.[13]
Water rate
Effective April 2017, residential customers inside Des Moines pay $4.11/1000 gallons of water, and residents within Polk County almost twice as much, $8.10.[14] A separate water availability fee varies depending on the meter size from $6 to $75 inside the city. For sewer service inside the city, the rate is $6.59 per 1,000 gallons, outside the city it is $13.18 per 1,000 gallons. Stormwater services cost $11.50 per Equivalent Residential Unit. DMWW also bills on behalf of the Des Moines City Council for Solid Waste Services, its recycling program and yard waste.[15]
Governance
Under Iowa Code Section 388, the utility is owned by the water rate payers and operated by a Board of trustees, who are appointed by the Mayor of the city of Des Moines and approved by the city council. The Board of trustees has all the powers of the city council to run the utility, but cannot levy taxes. The Board of Trustees hires a General Manager to operate the utility, who prepares an annual budget using revenue from the sale of water as its primary income. The Board of trustees reviews, modifies, and approves it. It is the only body which can enter into contracts.[3]
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in Iowa, United States. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857. It is located on, and named after, the Des Moines River, which likely was adapted from the early French name, Rivière des Moines, meaning "River of the Monks". The city's population was 214,133 as of the 2020 census. The six-county metropolitan area is ranked 83rd in terms of population in the United States, with 699,292 residents according to the 2019 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, and is the largest metropolitan area fully located within the state.
The Des Moines River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately 525 miles (845 km) long from its farther headwaters. The largest river flowing across the state of Iowa, it rises in southern Minnesota and flows across Iowa from northwest to southeast, passing from the glaciated plains into the unglaciated hills near the capital city of Des Moines, named after the river, in the center of the state. The river continues to flow to a southeastern direction away from Des Moines, later flowing directly into the Mississippi River.
Ledges State Park is a state park of Iowa, USA, located approximately four miles (6.4 km) south of the city of Boone. The park contains a sandstone gorge carved by Pea's Creek, a tributary of the Des Moines River. The gorge is 100 feet (30 m) deep in places, with concretions jutting from the cliffs.
Toronto Water is the municipal division of the City of Toronto under Infrastructure and Development Services responsible for the water supply network, and stormwater and wastewater management in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as well as parts of Peel and York Regions.
Saylorville Lake is a reservoir on the Des Moines River in Iowa, United States. It is located 11 miles (18 km) upstream from the city of Des Moines, and 214 miles (344 km) from the mouth of the Des Moines River at the Mississippi River. It was constructed as part of a flood control system for the Des Moines River as well as to aid in controlling flood crests on the Mississippi, of which the Des Moines is a tributary. The lake and dam is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District.
The Raccoon River is a 30.8-mile-long (49.6 km) tributary of the Des Moines River in central Iowa in the United States. As measured using the longest of its three forks, its length increases to 226 miles (364 km). Via the Des Moines River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. The river runs through an intensely cultivated area of croplands and livestock farming, receiving Tile drainage from slow-draining rich natural bottomland.
The Lansing Board of Water & Light is a publicly owned, municipal utility that provides electricity and water to the residents of the cities of Lansing and East Lansing, Michigan, and the surrounding townships of Delta, Delhi, Meridian and DeWitt. The Lansing Board of Water & Light also provides steam and chilled water services within the City of Lansing.
The Deer Island Waste Water Treatment Plant is located on Deer Island, one of the Boston Harbor Islands in Boston Harbor. The plant is operated by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) and began partial operations in 1995. The facility was fully operational in 2000 with the completion of the outfall tunnel.
Dallas Water Utilities (DWU) is the water and wastewater service operated by the City of Dallas, Texas, in the United States. DWU is a non-profit City of Dallas department that provides services to the city and 31 nearby communities, employs approximately 1450 people, and consists of 26 programs. DWU's budget is completely funded through the rates charged for water and wastewater services provided to customers. Rates are based on the cost of providing the services. The department does not receive any tax revenues. Primary authority and rules for the department are listed in Chapter 49 of the Dallas City Code.
The Erie Water Works was incorporated in 1865 as the Erie Water and Gas Company to provide drinking water and fire hydrant water for the city of Erie, Pennsylvania. The Water Works, also known as the Erie City Water Authority, replaced the Erie Water Systems. Its board of commissioners operates independently of the city government.
Maffitt Lake is a reservoir in the four corners of Dallas County, Polk County, Warren County, and Madison County, Iowa. It is located at 41.517°N 93.792°W.
High Trestle Trail is a rail trail running from Ankeny to Woodward in central Iowa. The recreation trail opened on April 30, 2011. It is a paved recreational trail that runs through the Polk, Story, Boone, and Dallas counties. The trail's name is derived from a former 1913 bridge that spanned the Des Moines River between the towns of Madrid and Woodward.
The environment of Iowa has been heavily affected by agricultural production since it became a U.S. state in 1846. However, there remain natural areas in Iowa that reflect a wide varieties of environmental niches.
The Philadelphia Water Department is the public water utility for the City of Philadelphia. PWD provides integrated potable water, wastewater, and stormwater services for Philadelphia and some communities in Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties. PWD is a municipal agency of the City of Philadelphia, and is seated in rented space at the Jefferson Tower in the Market East area of Center City, Philadelphia.
The Spavinaw Water Project was established to provide fresh water for Tulsa, Oklahoma from a site on Spavinaw Creek near the town of Spavinaw in Mayes County, Oklahoma. Planning and financing began in 1919, The project scope included site selection, designing and constructing a dam to impound the creek, a 55-mile long pipeline to carry water to a reservoir near Tulsa, where it would be treated and pumped to a network of customers. Groundbreaking occurred in October, 1922. The dam and pipeline were both completed in 1924, and the new Tulsa water treating plant was completed in 1929. At that time, this was the longest gravity-flow water pipeline operational in the United States.
The Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company, and often referred to as Pitt-Des Moines Steel or PDM was an American steel fabrication company. It operated from 1892 until approximately 2002 when its assets were sold to other companies, including Chicago Bridge & Iron Company. The company began as a builder of steel water tanks and bridges. It also later fabricated the "forked" columns for the World Trade Center in the 1960s, and was the steel fabricator and erector for the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. A number of its works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Walnut Creek is a stream in Polk and Dallas counties, in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is a tributary of the Raccoon River.
The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) is a privately owned, not-for-profit public utility servicing Wyandotte County that is headquartered in Kansas City, Kansas. Overall, BPU provides service to 127.5 square miles of Wyandotte County. Electric services are provided within the Kansas City, Kansas (KCK) area, and water is supplied to KCK, as well as portions of suburban Wyandotte, Leavenworth, and Johnson counties.
E.A Fairbairn Water Treatment Plant is a water treatment plant located next to the California State University, Sacramento campus. This water treatment plant, along with Sacramento River Water Treatment Plant on Sacramento River, provide approximately eighty five percent of Sacramento's drinking water. This treatment plant was recently renovated and completed in February 2019.
1 2 Andrews, L. F. (1908). "Jefferson S. Polk"(PDF). Pioneers of Polk County, Iowa and Reminiscences of Early Days. Des Moines: Baker-Trisler Company. p.9.
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