 Des Moines became the largest city in the U.S. to be without water in modern times. After the waters receded a bit, crews spent a week pumping six feet of water out of the plant. Twelve days after the plant shut down, people could flush their toilets again. And after another week, it was again safe to drink water from a faucet. Some still have souvenirs from that time, including metal cans of drinking water produced by Anheuser-Busch.