Unlike other Iowa cities, Burlington has steered clear of a water shortage.
Here's how.[image: Burlington Municipal Waterworks manager Ken Gregory
looks over the water filtration process Tuesday in the filter house of the
waterworks treatment facility off of Des Moines County 99 in Burlington.
Burlington’s access to a dependable water supply, requiring a relatively
low amount of treatment, benefits more than just the community. Burlington
sells water into the county, the Rathbun Rural Water distribution system as
well as West Burlington. Burlington water also serves Salem and the Lee
County fertilizer plant, Fort Madison and Keokuk also sell water into the
Rathbun system.]
Bob Hansen
for The Hawk Eye
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It is given and too often taken for granted. The faucet is turned and
clear, safe and decent tasting water fills the glass. But there are
communities in Iowa where a dependable source of water may be
imperiled. Des Moines, Iowa’s largest city, is among communities scrambling
to insure its citizens their water needs will be met.
Burlington, however, has been able to avoid this threat to its water supply
— thanks to its neighboring Mississippi River.
Intake valves draw an average of six-and-a-half million gallons of
Mississippi River water each day into the city’s treatment plant. This is
approximately 80% of the area’s needs and is augmented by water drawn from
three wells reaching the Pleistocene aquifer buried deep beneath the city.
The three wells, located on the water treatment plant property on Des
Moines County 99, are used mainly to regulate the temperature of the water
being treated. This source is especially closely monitored as it is
susceptible to contamination from gas stations, industrial sites and
municipal waste water discharge.
*More:*Burlington will hold a public hearing at the Waste Water Treatment
Facility to address repainting digester
<https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/2021/07/10/burlington-city-council-public-hearing-work-waste-water-treatment-facility-wwtf-digester-iowa/7915390002/>
Similar systems of river withdraws augmented by wells are employed by most
of the larger communities located along the Upper Mississippi. Because of
the relatively large flow of this river, the Mississippi River water supply
is not imperiled.
Seventy percent of the nation’s water supply comes from rivers and lakes,
and increased reliance of aquifers would quickly exhaust this resource.
Des Moines continues to draw the majority of its water supply for its
500,000 residents from the Raccoon River even as 67% of Iowa suffers
through an extended drought.
[image: A water tower outside the Burlington Municipal Waterworks treatment
facility Tuesday off of Des Moines County 99 in Burlington.]
Lack of sustained rainfall has caused the Raccoon River to run unusually
low and this has presented a two-fold problem to the capitol city. Reduced
flowage in the river can pose a threat to Des Moines' ability to draw
water. The water that is now taken from the river has unacceptable high
levels of nitrate contamination caused largely by agricultural runoff from
the fields of western Iowa.
These problems do not plague the Burlington water supply. The flowage of
the Mississippi River insures the community is able to withdraw sufficient
water to meet demand and the river’s high flow rate reduces the expensive
need to treat for nitrate contamination.
*More:*Lake Starker's algae problem discussed at Burlington City Council
meeting, but work won't start until 2016
<https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/2021/07/07/algae-lake-starker-crapo-park-burlington-city-council-fishing-parks-forestry/7886875002/>
Burlington Municipal Waterworks manager Ken Gregory explains that federal
guidelines require that nitrate loads of drinking water do not exceed ten
parts per million. Consumption of water at levels higher than this is a
particular risk for infants less than six months of age.
Burlington water tests out at 2.7 parts per million.
“We’re fortunate that the greater volume of water passing by Burlington
holds nitrate levels from farm runoff to a manageable rate. There is an old
saying in this business that goes ‘the solution to pollution is dilution,’
and we have sufficient flow to achieve that while they do not on the
Raccoon River.”
[image: A lab at the Burlington Municipal Waterworks treatment facility
Tuesday off of Des Moines County 99 in Burlington.]
Burlington’s access to a dependable water supply, requiring a relatively
low amount of treatment, benefits more than just the community. Burlington
sells water into the county, the Rathbun Rural Water distribution system as
well as West Burlington. Burlington water also serves Salem and the Iowa
Fertilizer Co. in Wever. Fort Madison and Keokuk also sell water into the
Rathbun system.
Gregory does, however, caution that water is not a resource to be
squandered recklessly.
“I certainly do not have a crystal ball to see what the future might hold,"
he said. "We could have a dry summer with elevated temperature that leads
to an unusually high algae bloom.
“In a situation like that, we would be forced into increasing our carbon
treatment of the water, which could give the water an earthy, musty
taste. But we have an extensive sampling program and we do not see a
situation like that occurring in the near future.”
[image: A computer screen shows the water pressure leaving the Burlington
Municipal Waterworks treatment facility as well as the water pressure in a
number of water tanks Tuesday in the control room of the waterworks
building off of Des Moines County 99 in Burlington.]
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*Des Moines, Iowa*
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