Need
The City of Des Moines is Iowa’s capital city and our 17 departments serve more than 214,000 residents and 49 neighborhood associations. Des Moines is a leader in sustainability and provides its residents with vibrant neighborhoods, an alive and active downtown, and abundant leisure opportunities.
People who live and work in downtown Des Moines had long complained about foul odors, and the city also had little success in controlling the problem.
Municipal staff received about 200 odor complaints per year, and most of the odors were described as “putrid, cooking meat and sewage odors”. The methodology used so far to control odor episodes was subjective and unscientific.
In 2022, Des Moines officials hired an air quality consulting firm to conduct a study to analyze odor complaints over the past decade and identify potential sources of the problem. Following the study, it was determined that three industrial meat companies in east Des Moines were the sources of the odors.
The study also recommended solutions to the city such as the purchase of odor monitoring devices and the implementation of an odor threshold that would prompt businesses to make actions if odors reach a certain level.
The City of Des Moines is taking a data-driven approach to reducing ongoing odor problems and establishing thresholds with the help of Kunak’s odor detection and control technology provided by Envirosuite.
