Water Plant Open House Planned for April 19

Published on March 28, 2025

AMES, Iowa – The Water and Pollution Control Department will host an open house at the Ames Water Treatment Plant, 1800 E. 13th St., from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 19. A modified open house will be held from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. for those who prefer a quieter environment or have mobility issues.

This event will feature public tours, displays, community engagement opportunities, kids’ activities, and light refreshments. Various City departments and community partners will be in attendance to highlight water quality and sustainability efforts in Ames and Story County. Participants will learn more about treating and distributing millions of gallons of award-winning Ames water to more than 20,000 homes and businesses throughout the city. 

“High-quality and great-tasting drinking water has become a part of the cultural identity of the Ames community,” said John Dunn, Water and Pollution Control Director. “We are so excited to offer residents the opportunity to visit and learn more about the treatment process.”

Overflow parking will be available at the nearby Iowa Heart Center and Childserve Childcare Center to the north of the water plant. Bus transportation will be available to transport visitors to and from the parking lots. Visitors are encouraged to utilize the bus transportation and not walk across East 13th Street, which does not have a cross walk.

The new water plant was authorized by the Ames City Council in July 2009, and groundbreaking for the facility took place in October 2014.  The new facility, with a 15-million gallons-per-day capacity, provides drinking water to the entire Ames community, including the Iowa State University campus.

The entire cost of the project was nearly $70 million. The new plant is one of the largest LEED-certified water treatment plants in Iowa. The plant is designed to be environmentally efficient, and LEED certification has resulted in approximately $6.5 million of borrowed cost to be forgiven by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.

Key LEED design elements include the following:

• A white roof and bright white concrete were used to reduce the heat island effect.
• Water efficient landscaping serves to filter storm water runoff while reducing the water footprint of the facility.
• Water efficient plumbing provides a 33% reduction over baseline water use.
• Nearly 90% of construction waste was recycled and diverted from the landfill.
• Materials for the new plant have 20% recycled content and 20% of total materials came from regional resources. New wood used was certified in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Council's guidelines which encourage environmentally responsible forest management.
• The heating and cooling system passes the raw water entering the plant through a geothermal heat exchanger, providing a significant reduction in energy over a conventional chiller system.