DES MOINES WATER WORKS: EPA violation history, explained
DES MOINES WATER WORKS has a health-based violation on record, but none in the last five years - an older issue, not necessarily a current one. 246,055 people get their water from it, across 94,000 connections.
Ranked against every other system in this dataset
DES MOINES WATER WORKS has 23 violations on record in total, 7 of thems health-based - ranking it 2,699th of 12,903 systems by violation count, the 79th percentile nationally.
Against the IA average
IA's 203 covered systems average 3.5 health-based violations each; DES MOINES WATER WORKS carries 7, more than typical for the state. The filter guide explains what a violation like this actually calls for.
Most recent violation on record
DES MOINES WATER WORKS's most recent violation on record is dated 2018-01-11, with the most recent health-based one dated 2017-01-05. Last reported to EPA: 06/17/2026.
The concern categories on record
DES MOINES WATER WORKS's flagged contaminants and rule violations, grouped by what they actually mean for a filter choice rather than left as EPA's raw code list:
- Microbial contamination / treatment technique - flagged from: Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule; Surface Water Treatment Rule
- Nitrate / nitrite - flagged from: Nitrate
- Disinfection byproducts - flagged from: TTHM
The most severe category on record is microbial contamination / treatment technique, which points toward a microbial-class filter if you want to address it directly.
What DES MOINES WATER WORKS's record does not cover
DES MOINES WATER WORKS's numbers here come from its own required reporting to EPA under the Safe Drinking Water Act, not from an independent test of your glass of water. This record - 7 health-based violations on file for DES MOINES WATER WORKS - stops at the meter and cannot see household plumbing on the other side of it. The guide to what this data misses covers that gap.