From: Thomas Mathews <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Water quality--nitrates
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Friday, August 5, 2011, 10:50 AM

Here's a central-Iowa water quality question for everyone:

 

If, in the watersheds that Des Moines gets its drinking water from--which are mainly the Raccoon River, but also, at certain times, the Des Moines River--we went back to farming methods that were in use prior to about 1940, which means no applications of anhydrous ammonia, would the Des Moines Waterworks need to continue using the major nitrate removal plant which they built a few years ago, in order to make our water safe to drink? (I remember reading that our nitrate removal facility is the largest of its kind in the world.)

 

Thanks for any comments on this!

 

Tom

Des Moines

 

PS--Regarding the objection that 1940s-era farming was much more labor-intensive than today, and therefore not a realistic option anymore, consider that we have a serious labor surplus now, with unemployment probably understated at the official figure of 9.1 percent.

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