Des Moines Water Works saved hundreds of thousands of dollars by changing its operations to save energy — a move that drew recognition from both the U.S. Department of Energy and the Energize Des Moines program.

The DOE was impressed by Water Works’ use of real-time energy data to tweak its operations at three treatment plants, a move that saved $185,000 in a year. The agency gave the utility a Better Practice Award. 

The city of Des Moines’ program, Energize Des Moines, gave Water Works a Best Practices in Energy Efficiency and Employee Training award. 

Water Works agreed to upload energy and water consumption data to the city’s efficiency system, and its administration building ended up outperforming 82% of similar buildings nationwide. The utility made changes to save energy, saving $615,000, and also reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 2,856 metric tons.