DES MOINES, Iowa — Des Moines Water Works is asking residents to follow a voluntary lawn watering schedule so they have more time to remove nitrates from river water.
The problem right now is twofold according to Ted Corrigan, Des Moines Water Works CEO.
“We’re faced with a couple of competing challenges,” Corrigan said. “One is increasing demand for water in the community and the other is challenging water quality in the river. So we have high nitrate levels that are the result of fertilizer washing off of farmland upstream that gets in the river and we only have a certain capacity to denitrify the water. So as demand goes up we approach that capacity.”
Des Moines Water Works is asking that Iowans do not water their lawns on Mondays, and then follow a schedule for the rest of the week based on their address.
To find the recommended lawn watering schedule visit the Des Moines Water Works website.