PFAS in Waverly, Iowa Water: What the City's 2025 Report Says

Yes, and the units matter. Waverly's 2025 water quality report states that in 2025 the system exceeded an EPA drinking water lifetime interim health advisory for PFAS: the PFOA result is printed as 0.0045 parts per trillion against a 0.004 ppt advisory. An advisory is guidance, not an enforceable limit. Here is what the report says.

The number Waverly printed, and the unit it is in

Waverly Water Department draws from four groundwater wells, 150 to 220 feet deep, in the Silurian-Devonian aquifer, and the 2025 report lists no softening step. Three numbers are the ones people search for, printed here as the city prints them, units included, beside their standards.

The report also carries the Iowa DNR's source water finding: the Silurian-Devonian wells were rated highly susceptible to contamination, because the aquifer and the materials above it provide little protection from surface activity. That is the state's assessment of the geology, published by the city itself — not a statement that anything is wrong with the water today, and we will not dress it up as one.

An interim health advisory is not an enforceable limit

An EPA health advisory is non-regulatory information for utilities and the public; a utility that exceeds one has not violated a drinking water regulation. The enforceable number is a maximum contaminant level, or MCL. Waverly's nitrate is measured against an MCL; its PFOA was measured against an advisory.

That advisory is also historical. EPA issued interim updated PFOA and PFOS health advisories on June 15, 2022, and now files them among historical PFOA and PFOS health effects science documents, stating that those documents, including health advisories, “are outdated and no longer reflect the latest science.” On April 10, 2024, EPA finalized the PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, setting enforceable MCLs of 4.0 parts per trillion for PFOA and 4.0 ppt for PFOS.

Both figures are in the same unit, so the comparison is worth making out loud: the 2022 advisory Waverly was measured against, 0.004 ppt, is a thousand times lower than the 4.0 ppt MCL EPA later made enforceable, and Waverly's printed 0.0045 ppt sits below that MCL. EPA determines MCL compliance using running annual averages at the sampling point, so the Waverly Water Department, not us, is the place to ask how the city's results line up under the current rule.

That rule is moving, too. EPA's PFAS page states that on May 18, 2026 the agency proposed two rules for comment: one upholds the PFOA and PFOS regulation while letting systems request two more years, to 2031, to comply; the other would rescind the regulations for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and the hazard index mixture. Under the 2024 rule as written, systems finish initial monitoring by 2027 and have until 2029 to install treatment where results exceed the MCLs.

The honest summary: Waverly published an exceedance of a superseded advisory rather than burying it. We are a water treatment company, not a health authority, and the report itself sends health-effects questions to EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline.

What EPA documents about removing PFAS from drinking water

In “Reducing PFAS in Drinking Water with Treatment Technologies,” EPA states that PFAS dissolve in water and that traditional treatment technologies are not able to remove them. EPA then names the technologies its researchers have found do remove PFAS: activated carbon adsorption, ion exchange resins, and high-pressure membranes. EPA notes these can be applied at a treatment plant, in a building, or in a home — at the point of entry, or at the point of use such as a kitchen sink. From that same article:

• Granular activated carbon. EPA calls activated carbon the most studied treatment for PFAS removal and says GAC effectively removes PFAS in a flow-through filter mode. EPA adds that GAC works well on longer-chain PFAS like PFOA and PFOS, while shorter-chain compounds such as PFBS and PFBA do not adsorb as well.
• Anion exchange resin. EPA describes positively charged anion exchange resins as effective for negatively charged contaminants like PFAS, though typically more expensive than GAC.
• High-pressure membranes. EPA reports that nanofiltration and reverse osmosis have been extremely effective at removing PFAS, with research showing these membranes typically more than 90 percent effective across a wide range of PFAS. EPA calls this perhaps best suited as a point-of-use technology for a homeowner.

Those are EPA's findings about categories of technology, tested by EPA researchers — not findings about any product we sell, and we will not blur that line. What we can tell you is which categories we work in: whole-home activated carbon tanks at the point of entry, and reverse osmosis at the kitchen tap, the point-of-use application EPA calls well suited to a homeowner. Our systems are certified to the NSF/ANSI standards — reverse osmosis to NSF/ANSI 58, the drinking water RO standard, which requires at least 75 percent total dissolved solids reduction to certify, and softener components to NSF/ANSI 44.

Where to get a real PFAS answer for your address

Start with your own water, and know what each test can and cannot tell you. Our in-home test is free and covers hardness, iron, and total dissolved solids. It does not test for PFAS or nitrate; those need a certified laboratory, and the Waverly Water Department publishes the city's numbers every year. If you are outside city limits on a private well — plenty of Bremer County homes are — the Iowa DNR recommends annual testing for bacteria and nitrate, and the Iowa Private Well Grants program pays for it through your county environmental health office. We point you there before quoting anything; more on our free well water testing in Iowa page.

Be just as plain about the equipment. A reverse osmosis system treats the one tap it is plumbed to, not the whole house. A softener addresses hardness; it is not a nitrate treatment. A carbon tank is a filter, not a disinfection step. Iowa State University Extension notes that nitrate is odorless and tasteless, so nobody tastes their way to an answer, and lists reverse osmosis, distillation, and anion exchange as methods that remove it. The CDC notes that boiling does not remove chemical contaminants; with nitrate, it concentrates it. Our nitrates in Iowa water page goes deeper, and our reverse osmosis vs. filters comparison lays out what each type of equipment is built to do.

What the equipment costs, published

Every price is all-in for Waverly homeowners: equipment, installation by a licensed local plumbing professional we vet, schedule, and stand behind, taxes, and our lifetime parts warranty. Media is covered five years, labor one year. We publish these numbers; the national dealer brands publish none.

Military and first responders take $100 off, 0% financing is available, and travel is free the first 50 miles from Marion, then $1 per mile. Nothing on this page expires. For the fuller breakdown, see reverse osmosis cost in Iowa, or read up on reverse osmosis drinking water systems and water softeners.

Where to take a PFAS question next

Read the city's report first; it is the primary source for everything above. Then, if you want to know what is coming out of your own tap and whether anything is worth doing, call 319-319-6566, email ryan@kindwaterco.com, or start an instant quote. Kind Water Co is family-owned, founded 2021 in Marion, insured and bonded. For hardness, wells, and what we install around town, see the Waverly service area page.