Radium in Dyersville, Iowa Water

Per Dyersville's 2026 Water Quality Report, combined radium measured a 0.0 pCi/L running annual average at one finished-water tap and 3.1 pCi/L in a single sample at the other, both under the 5 pCi/L federal limit and neither flagged as a violation. The city runs radium-removal treatment on its deep wells. Here is how to read those numbers.

Before treatment 4.31, after treatment 0.0

The source of Dyersville's water is groundwater. Per the city's Public Works department, water operations maintains two 1,800-foot-deep wells, and the same department lists radium-removal water treatment among its water facilities.

Per the 2026 Water Quality Report, combined radium at Finished Water Tap #4 was a running annual average of 0.0 pCi/L, sampled 6/19/24, and at Finished Water Tap #5 a single sample of 3.1 pCi/L, sampled 1/29/25. The limit column reads 5, the goal beside it reads 0, and the violation column reads No on both lines. Gross alpha, printed on the same taps, came in at 4.6 and 4.8 pCi/L against a limit of 15 — again, no violation.

Two other numbers from the same report are worth having. Sodium was 27.8 ppm at one finished-water tap and 51.5 ppm at the other, single samples rather than a system-wide average, and the report prints no limit beside sodium because it is not a regulated contaminant. Average water hardness, the report says, is 200 milligrams per liter, or 11.7 grains per gallon.

Those are the utility's numbers, published by the utility, and the utility deserves the credit. What they describe is water leaving the plant — not water arriving at your particular tap.

How to read a radium result: pCi/L, MCL, RAA and SGL

Radium is reported in picocuries per liter, abbreviated pCi/L. It is a radioactivity unit rather than a weight, which is why the figure looks nothing like the parts-per-million numbers elsewhere on the report. The report defines each abbreviation itself; here they are beside the city's own results.

The distinction worth carrying away is RAA against SGL: a single sample is one moment at one tap, while the running annual average is the figure compliance is judged on. Both of Dyersville's radium results are finished-water tap results — water sampled after treatment.

The 2025 monitoring violation, and where it stands now

The city's previous report, for 2025, disclosed a first-quarter monitoring violation for combined radium at Well #4. The word "violation" does a lot of work in a search result, so here is the category.

EPA's public drinking-water records track two separate things about a system: whether it followed its established monitoring and reporting schedules, and whether it violated a maximum contaminant level. A monitoring violation belongs to the first group. It concerns a required sample and its reporting, not a finding that a result was above a limit. Dyersville disclosed it in its own published report, which is how the system is supposed to work.

Where it stands now: the current 2026 report, posted on the city's utilities page, lists no violations at all. Older 2025 figures still circulating online include a 4.31 pCi/L single radium sample; the comparable single sample in the current report is 3.1 pCi/L, and the running annual average is 0.0. Check the newest report on the city's own site rather than a copy of it elsewhere.

Why deep Iowa wells run into radium at all

Dyersville's report attributes both its radium and its gross alpha results to erosion of natural deposits. Radium occurs naturally in deep bedrock, so this is a geology story rather than a pollution story — the trade-off that comes with drilling deep.

Dyersville is not alone in dealing with it. Iowa American Water's Clinton system installed a hydrous manganese oxide treatment plant in 2005 to handle naturally occurring radium and iron on two of its wells. Different towns, different engineering, the same underlying rock — and in both cases the utility built the treatment, then published the results.

Whether a Dyersville household needs to act at all

Start by reading the current report on the city's website. If you are on Dyersville city water, radium is something the utility already built a treatment process around, and there is nothing you need to buy from us to address it. We do not sell or quote equipment for radium. We would rather say that than sell you something.

If you want your own numbers, radium is a certified-laboratory test — nobody measures it at your kitchen table, us included. Our free in-home test covers hardness, iron and total dissolved solids, and the results are yours to keep whether or not you buy anything.

What our equipment is for is the everyday stuff: hardness, iron, sediment, chlorine taste. Hardness is the one the city's report describes no treatment step for, and at 200 mg/L it is what nearly every call we get from town is really about. You can see how the region compares in our Iowa water hardness by city guide, and our Dyersville service area page covers the rest of the city's water picture. Our softeners are built from NSF/ANSI 44 certified components, and our reverse osmosis systems are certified to NSF/ANSI 58, the RO standard, which requires at least 75% total dissolved solids reduction for certification.

On a private well outside town, in the country across Dubuque County or over the line into Delaware County, none of the city's report applies to you at all. A private well is entirely the homeowner's responsibility. The Iowa DNR recommends testing private wells every year for bacteria and nitrate, and through Iowa's Private Well Grants program your county environmental health office can arrange certified lab testing at no cost — ask them which analytes their panel covers before you assume. Our free well water testing guide walks through how to set it up.

What we charge in and around Dyersville

Every figure is all-in: 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, and we are insured and bonded.

• Softener with whole-home filtration and reverse osmosis — $2,850; the same build without RO — $2,500
• Softener only, no carbon filtration — $1,900
• Reverse osmosis on its own — $800 tank, or $900 tankless on city water only
• XL builds for larger households, city water only — $2,800, or $3,150 with RO
• Salt-free conditioner, city water only, and it is a conditioner rather than a softener — $3,050
• Private well dual-tank system — $3,450, or $3,800 with tank RO; we do not put a tankless RO on a well. UV disinfection $700 and pre-sediment filtration $500 are well-water items
• Iron and sulfur systems — quoted after your free water test, never off a web page
• Annual service — $199/yr on a tank-RO home and $249/yr with a tankless RO, including all three RO filters, a water test and a full system check

We publish these because most of the industry does not; the national dealer networks will not put a purchase price in writing. There is 0% financing, and $100 off for military and first responders. One honest note on distance: our first 50 miles from Marion are free and then it is $1 a mile, and Dyersville sits right around that 50-mile line, so ask us for the exact figure before you book. Nothing here expires.

Talk to us, or don't — either way, test

Call or text 319-319-6566, email ryan@kindwaterco.com, or build your own numbers with our instant quote tool. Kind Water Co is family-owned, founded in 2021 by Ryan Brunton and based in Marion, about an hour from Dyersville. If you are on a well out of town, start with our well water treatment page; if you are elsewhere in the county, our Dubuque County service area page covers the wider region.