In March 2015, the DMWW board sued three Iowa counties for violating the Clean Water Act with high nitrate discharges, which contribute to hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.

[1] In 1871, Frederick M. Hubbell and Jefferson S. Polk organized the Des Moines Water Company with $3000.

The Water Company was built on Walnut Street in Des Moines using Holly system hydrants, which could throw six streams at a time.

The city demanded 10 miles of pipe within 10 months and "hydrants were placed for citizens or passersby to draw water for purposes of drinking".

and in 1912 DMWW started adding hypochlorite and began a water testing laboratory with a chemist, a bacteriologist, and an assistant.

In 1923, an attorney prepared a bill for the legislature to abolish the City Councils supervision of the DMWW Board.

In 1928, Denman recommended adding a softening plant to save customers money spent on soap and wear and tear on clothes.

From 1948-49, the softening plant was built, called the filter building which housed the laboratory and the water rate increased for the first time in 50 years.

In 1958, eight more filters and two more softening basins were added to the filter plant and Congress authorized construction of a dam at Saylorville, Iowa on the Des Moines River for Saylorville Lake which allowed the Army Corps of Engineers of the Rock Island District to provide flood control for both the Des Moines River system, including downtown Des Moines, and also the Mississippi River system but groundbreaking took until July 1965 and becoming fully operational in 1977.

During the Great Flood of 1993, the Raccoon River crested at a record 14.7 feet above flood stage, forcing the Fleur Drive treatment plant to be shut down and residents of the greater Des Moines metropolitan area were without any water service for 11 days, and non-potable water for 18 days.

McMullen Water Treatment Plant in 2007, began operation using five radial collector wells as its main source, and additionally also from Maffitt Reservoir.

[3] In April 2011, the Saylorville Water Treatment Plant began operating, serving customers north of Des Moines.

[3] In March 2015, the DMWW board voted to sue Calhoun, Buena Vista and Sac county for high nitrate discharges into the Raccoon River, and their failure to obtain a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit or state permit in violation of the Clean Water Act.

[5] The lawsuit contends that tile drainage lines exacerbate pollution by moving nutrients more quickly to waterways.

[7] Most Iowans have supported the lawsuit, up to 71% of urban residents, but most did not think water quality was the state's most important issue.

Even the Iowa Soybean Association has conceded, that more ways to finance the 2013 Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy plan (cutting the nitrogen and phosphorus by 45 percent) need to be found in light of the problem in the Gulf of Mexico dead zone.

[8] In March 2017, a federal district court dismissed the DMWW claims saying the Iowa legislature was "the appropriate body to address the state's water quality crisis".

[9] In February 2017, a bill called Dismantling the Des Moines Water Works - HF 484/SF 456 was proposed to move assets and power to local municipalities.

[6] At the end of the legislative session in April 2017, the bill was moved to unfinished business in the House and was funneled in the Senate.

[13] Effective April 2017, residential customers inside Des Moines pay $4.11/1000 gallons of water, and residents within Polk County almost twice as much, $8.10.

[14] A separate water availability fee varies depending on the meter size from $6 to $75 inside the city.

The Board of Trustees hires a General Manager to operate the utility, who prepares an annual budget using revenue from the sale of water as its primary income.