Originally named Verbeck, Moore started out as a watering stop along the Santa Fe Railway. The city of Moore was incorporated in 1893 and stayed rural up through the 1960s. Urban and industrial development started in Moore in the 1960s. As a result, the city needed to create a water system to support the growing population that was drawn to the area for jobs in manufacturing. Since, the city has frequently received criticism for Moore water quality falling below standards, and residents report having issues with their sewage systems and utility bills.

Today, the City of Moore Public Utilities Service is in charge of regulating Moore water quality and distributing drinking water to the city’s 60,000 residents. This utility service employs a private water company called Veolia North American to manage the water testing and distribution in Moore. 

Moore tap water is generally safe to drink. Water is mostly sourced from 34 wells that access the Central Oklahoma Aquifer. This aquifer has a known history of pollutants that include arsenic, chromium, uranium, and selenium in amounts that exceed EPA standards. The Moore water system is made up of 273 miles of water lines, 34 active water wells, a ground pump station, five water towers, and three water booster stations. Water maintenance employees who monitor Moore water quality must pass a series of tests and be licensed by the Oklahoma State Department of Health. To supplement its water supply, Moore also buys water from Oklahoma City. 

Between 2013 and 2019, Moore tap water contained levels of arsenic that violated the Safe Water Drinking Act during four different testing periods. In May and October of 2019, the city had to notify residents that two of Moore’s wells had very high levels of arsenic. An outside investigator looking into arsenic levels and Moore water quality believes that instead of trying to resolve the issue, the city is just blending water with arsenic with clean water purchased from Oklahoma City.