How much does reverse osmosis cost in Waukee? Kind Water Co installs it for $897 with a storage tank or $997 tankless, tax included. In warm months Waukee adds water from its own ASR well, whose sodium reached 72 mg/L in 2025, versus 28.06 mg/L at the McMullen plant (DMWW 2026 report). Call or text 515-709-4674.
This page is about drinking water at the kitchen sink. For hardness, softeners and wells, see our Waukee water softener page.
For most of the year, a glass of Waukee tap water started out in the Raccoon River. Collector wells under the riverbed feed the L.D. McMullen plant southwest of the metro, where Des Moines Water Works softens the water with lime, filters it and adds chlorine for Central Iowa Water Works. Waukee Water Supply buys that water and carries it through the city’s pipes.
Summer adds a second source. Waukee runs one aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) well. In the cold months, when demand is low, the City sends water from the regional plants down into Well 2. In the warm months it pumps that water back up to help meet demand (DMWW 2026 report). The report doesn’t say which days the ASR water runs or which streets get the most of it.
That matters at the sink because the report tests the ASR water on its own, and its numbers aren’t the same as McMullen’s.
Sodium is where the two sources differ most. In 2025, the highest sodium result in ASR Well 2 was 72 mg/L, with results from 28 to 72. Water leaving McMullen topped out at 28.06 mg/L. At its highest, then, the stored well water carried about two and a half times the plant’s sodium.
| Waukee ASR Well 2, 2025 | Highest result | All results |
|---|---|---|
| Sodium | 72 mg/L | 28 to 72 mg/L |
| Alpha emitters | 3.5 pCi/L | 1.2 to 3.5 pCi/L |
| Combined radium | 1.1 pCi/L | up to 1.1 pCi/L |
| Fluoride | 1.30 mg/L | 0.81 to 1.30 mg/L |
Source: Des Moines Water Works 2026 Water Quality Report (2025 data). The ASR results come from the report’s separate table for Waukee ASR Well 2.
Sodium is one part of TDS, the dissolved minerals and salts our RO is certified to reduce. Both of our RO systems are certified to NSF/ANSI 58 for TDS reduction, and the free in-home test measures the TDS at your own tap, so you know your starting number.
The report lists erosion of natural deposits as the common source of radium and alpha emitters. EWG’s Tap Water Database, which averages Waukee Water Supply’s radiological tests from 2018 to 2023, shows combined radium at 2.17 pCi/L against EWG’s own guideline of 0.05. EWG’s guidelines are its goals, not legal limits, and EWG lists 15 contaminants above them for Waukee in all (2021–2023 chemical data). We share these numbers as facts. We don’t claim our RO removes radium.
Here’s the practical part. Waukee’s water isn’t the same all year, because the ASR well joins in when it’s hot out. A kitchen RO runs every glass through the same 7 stages, whichever source is in the pipes that week.
Both systems have 7 stages, add their own drinking faucet and carry a 1-year warranty. The choice usually comes down to your cabinet and your water source.
On Waukee city water, either one works. Both of the Waukee RO installs named in our Google review replies were tankless. If your acreage outside town runs on a private well, we install the tank system. To see how our prices line up with other Des Moines-area companies, read our Des Moines reverse osmosis guide.
The RO unit sits in your sink cabinet and gets its own drinking faucet, drilled if the sink has no spare hole. We hook it to the cold line and the drain, flush it before we leave and show you which filter is which. Standard faucet finishes (chrome, brushed nickel, matte black, oil-rubbed bronze or brushed gold) cost nothing extra. A specialty finish outside that list is $200.
Waukee has added a lot of houses lately, with a record 1,489 building permits in 2020 (City of Waukee). If you want RO water at the refrigerator or ice maker of a new kitchen, know two things first. It can’t be done when the sink sits in an island. And even with the fridge nearby, it’s about a 50/50 chance the line works out, with no way to tell ahead of time. A fridge line is $350 with a tank RO or $300 with a tankless one.
Want the cabinet back? We can mount the RO in the basement and run it up to the kitchen faucet for $400, with either system. A wall shelf to hold it is $100 and comes only with the basement option. Basement plumbing plus a fridge line together are $500 with either RO.
RO filter care is $199 a year if we mail you the filters and you swap them, or $249 a year if we come out, swap them and test your water. Both plans cost the same whether you have a tank or a tankless unit. A non-warranty service call is $149 for time and labor, plus any parts; calls covered by our warranty are free. If you go ahead with the repair or a new system, the $149 counts toward it. A repair call and an RO filter swap on the same visit are one charge. Slow faucet or a filter question? Start with our RO service guide.
Waukee was under central Iowa's nitrate lawn-watering bans in June 2025 and again in June 2026 (Central Iowa Water Works, June 2025; Iowa Public Radio, June 2026). Our 7-stage reverse osmosis adds a dedicated kitchen faucet for drinking and cooking water, and EPA lists reverse osmosis as a best available technology for nitrate.
The most complete setup is both: whole-home nitrate removal for every faucet, plus reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink for drinking and cooking water.
On our Des Moines Google profile, 2 reviews carry a reply from us that names Waukee (counted October 30, 2026). Both replies are about a tankless reverse osmosis install in a Waukee home, and one of those homes also got a single-tank whole-home system. Read our Google reviews.
Free home screening measures hardness, iron, TDS and a nitrate screening reading. It also checks chlorine. At the same visit we look at your cabinet, outlet and drain, then give you an installed price for tank and tankless. Book your free water test, read how the free test works, or try our instant quote. We confirm any travel charge before you book.
Your nearest office: Kind Water Co · 600 SE 15th St, Des Moines, IA 50317 · 515-709-4674, about 15 miles from Waukee. Call or text (515) 709-4674.
Ankeny stores water in deep ASR wells too; compare notes on our Ankeny reverse osmosis page. Parts of Clive and Urbandale get McMullen water as well. For softeners, hardness and wells in town, head back to our Waukee water page.
$897 with a storage tank or $997 tankless. Both prices include the install, tax and a 1-year warranty. Kind Water Co puts in both kinds in Waukee homes. Getting our softener and whole-home carbon system too? Add the RO at the same visit, and the total goes from $2,500 to $2,850, with a lifetime parts warranty on the softener and a 1-year warranty on the RO.
On Waukee city water, either works, so it comes down to your cabinet. Tankless ($997) skips the storage tank and needs an outlet under the sink; an air switch frees one up for $200 if the disposal uses it. The tank system ($897) needs room for its tank but no outlet. On a private well outside town, we install the tank RO only.
Up to 72 mg/L in 2025, with results from 28 to 72, in the Des Moines Water Works 2026 report. Water leaving the McMullen plant topped out at 28.06 mg/L that year. Waukee brings the ASR water back in the warm months, so summer tap water can include it. Sodium counts toward TDS, and our free in-home test measures the TDS at your own tap.
Its 2025 results for ASR Well 2 include combined radium at 1.1 pCi/L, alpha emitters at 3.5 pCi/L (range 1.2 to 3.5) and fluoride at 1.30 mg/L (range 0.81 to 1.30). The report names erosion of natural deposits as the common source of radium and alpha emitters. We share these as facts. Our RO is certified to NSF/ANSI 58 for TDS reduction, and we make no radium claim.
Kind Water Co. We book the job from our Des Moines office, about 15 miles from Waukee, and licensed local plumbing professionals we vet, schedule, and stand behind do the install. Your quote lists the unit, the faucet and any extras, like a fridge line or basement plumbing, before anything is scheduled. Questions first? Call or text 515-709-4674.
You or us, your choice. RO filter care is $199 a year if we mail you the filters and you swap them, or $249 a year if we come out, swap them and test your water. The price is the same for tank and tankless units. If something needs fixing at the same visit as a filter swap, it’s one charge, not two.
It depends on the kitchen. Waukee issued a record 1,489 building permits in 2020, so plenty of kitchens here are new, but a new kitchen doesn’t change the rules: a fridge line can’t be run when the sink is in an island, and even with the fridge close by it’s about a 50/50 chance the line works out. If it does, it’s $350 with a tank RO or $300 with a tankless one.
Whole-home water softening, filtration, and reverse-osmosis drinking water — professionally installed and built to last a lifetime.
Serving Des Moines, Polk County & homes across Iowa
Kind Water Co is a d/b/a of Zero Cap Investments LLC · 600 SE 15th St, Des Moines, IA 50317
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