Officials of the Des Moines Water Works last week announced they will spend $15 million to double the size of the utility’s nitrate removal facility. They say the upgrade is needed to handle increasing levels of nitrate in the water supply from the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers.

 

The Water Works board approved an $800,000 contract with CH2M, an engineering and consulting firm in West Des Moines, to design the facility expansion. Water Works officials say the new equipment and the cost to operate it will mean bigger rate increases for its water customers in coming years. Water Works CEO Bill Stowe says most of the nitrates are coming from tile drainage from farm fields, and he’s blaming farmers for higher water bills his customers will have to pay.

 

The Water Works growth plan follows its recently failed lawsuit against 10 drainage districts in three northwest Iowa counties (Buena Vista, Calhoun, Sac). The suit claimed the county boards of supervisors, which oversee drainage districts in the counties, are responsible for high nitrate levels reaching the Raccoon River, which supplies water for 500,000 central Iowans.

 

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