(Radio Iowa) - It’s been a wet spring in Iowa but water utilities in the Des Moines metro area are asking people to save water because of high nitrate levels in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers.
For now, Des Moines Water Works C-E-O Ted Corrigan says tap water is held below the legal limit by running a nitrate removal facility and mixing in low-nitrate water from wells and reservoirs. As people start watering lawns and demand increases, Corrigan says those low-nitrate sources won’t keep up.
Conservations measures may have to be implemented, he says, not due to water quantity but rather water quality. The two rivers are a major source of drinking water for around 600-thousand people in central Iowa.