Water treatment plant being considered at Des Moines' largest landfill

The big picture: Landfills across the country are grappling with the same issue.

• The water — called leachate — can pick up cancer-causing chemicals and other pollutants before it's collected and sent away for treatment.
• It is being increasingly scrutinized by regulators to avoid it from getting into drinking water sources, with places like Lyon County, Minnesota, and Hurley, New York, studying or testing cleanup solutions.

State of play: Treatment plants in Perry and Boone recently declined to accept the water, Metro Waste Authority CEO Michael McCoy told the Des Moines City Council earlier this month.

• That's increasing the agency's reliance on other outlets, including the Des Moines Metropolitan Wastewater Reclamation Authority, he said.

Catch up quick: The authority, which provides services to more than 110,000 homes, also operates the Metro Park West landfill near Perry.

• Some leachate from the sites is recirculated into landfills to add moisture, help trash decompose and support landfill-gas production. Some of it is hauled or sent to treatment plants.

The intrigue: A Mitchellville water treatment plant could also potentially handle some industrial liquid waste, McCoy tells Axios.

• That could include byproducts from businesses such as manufacturers or car washes, as well as other liquids that cannot legally be buried in a landfill unless they are solidified.

Reality check: The project remains conceptual.

• MWA has not started design work and does not yet have a cost estimate or overall scope of the project, chief operating officer Leslie Irlbeck tells Axios.
• McCoy estimated the project could be five to seven years away.

What we're watching: Whether operational savings would be sufficient to offset costs and avoid future user-fee increases.