Dixon's water company has put a hardness number in writing: 278 to 388 mg/L, or 16.2 to 22.7 grains per gallon, in Iowa American Water's 2019 Typical Water Quality sheet for the Dixon system. All of it comes from one 347-foot Silurian well drilled in 2013, and nothing at the plant takes that hardness back out before it reaches your faucet.
At 16 to 23 grains, Dixon water sits in the range where a softener earns its place, protecting water heaters, dishwashers and shower glass from scale. We install water softeners, whole-home filtration and reverse osmosis drinking-water systems in Dixon homes. We also repair and maintain equipment that is already in your basement, including brands we did not sell, and we build complete well systems for acreages outside town that run on their own wells. Installation is done by licensed local plumbing professionals we vet, schedule, and stand behind.
The published range is wide, so we do not size anything from a sheet. The free in-home water test happens at your kitchen sink and measures hardness, iron and total dissolved solids, which is what a softener actually needs to be set for. Travel is free for the first 50 miles and $1 a mile after that, and any mileage is quoted before you agree to anything. To get started, book the free in-home water test or run an instant quote first.
| Dixon at a glance | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| Who supplies the water | Iowa American Water, Dixon system, PWSID IA8225043: 204 people and 104 service connections in EPA SDWIS. It is a stand-alone well system, not the company's Davenport-area river supply (IA8222001). |
| Where it comes from | One well, Dixon #2, drilled on 22 July 2013 to 347 feet in the Silurian aquifer (Iowa DNR Source Water Tracker). The 1916 well it replaced is recorded as plugged. |
| Softened at the plant? | No. EPA SDWIS lists chlorination and an orthophosphate corrosion inhibitor, and no softening process. The 2025 water quality report describes chlorine disinfection only. |
| Published hardness | 278 to 388 mg/L as calcium carbonate (16.2 to 22.7 grains per gallon), Iowa American Water 2019 Typical Water Quality sheet. The Iowa DNR sample database holds no hardness result for this system. |
For most of a century Dixon drank from a shallow well. The Iowa DNR tracker dates Dixon #1 to 1916 and puts it at 108 feet into the Silurian dolomite. Iowa American Water's 2025 report explains what happened next: the company acquired the system in 2013 and, in September of that year, put a new, deeper well into service that draws from a lower section of the aquifer it describes as less susceptible to contamination. The report rounds the new well to about 300 feet; the state's well record lists 347.
The federal inventory shows the changeover as a set of dates. The original plant and the entry point from Well #1 were deactivated on 7 October 2013, and the old well itself is recorded as plugged, with a deactivation date of 4 September 2015. Plant #2 and Well #2 are the whole system today.
The state inspected it on 16 September 2020 and recorded no significant or minor deficiencies. The survey describes a 75 gallon-per-minute pump in the well on Washington Street, next to the treatment building, a 30,000-gallon elevated tank, and two 100 gallon-per-minute high-service pumps. Because there is only one well, the inspector recommended an interconnection agreement with another public supply or an emergency plan for outages. That is a planning note, not a water quality finding.
Hardness is calcium and magnesium, and the state's own samples show both in quantity. At the entry point from Well #2 on 12 July 2022, the Iowa DNR portal records 64 mg/L of calcium and 38 mg/L of magnesium. Those are the minerals that leave the white crust on faucet aerators, the film on glassware and the scale that settles in the bottom of a water heater.
Iron is not the story here. The same 2022 sample shows 0.11 mg/L, under EPA's 0.3 mg/L aesthetic guideline, so most Dixon homes are looking at a hardness problem rather than orange staining. Sodium is modest too: 12.4 mg/L at the entry point on 12 August 2025. A softener trades hardness for a small amount of added sodium, which is one reason a softener is often paired with a reverse osmosis faucet for drinking and cooking water.
The new well is sampled for nitrate every July, and the Iowa DNR portal shows the number climbing from 0.14 mg/L in 2015 to 1.33 mg/L in 2025, with 1.28 mg/L recorded on 6 July 2026. The federal limit is 10 mg/L, and the 2025 report lists nitrate as in compliance. We are not the people to interpret that trend for your family; we can only point you to where it is published. Our reverse osmosis systems are certified to NSF/ANSI 58 for total dissolved solids only, not for nitrate, so a nitrate question belongs with a certified lab.
Lead is handled the same way. The 2020 state survey noted that lead service lines and lead goose necks had been identified in the distribution system and should be replaced as they are found. The 2025 report shows a lead 90th percentile of 6 ppb from 2024 sampling, with none of the five homes tested above the 15 ppb action level, and Iowa American Water publishes a service line lookup at iowaamwater.com/leadfacts.
EPA SDWIS lists no violations for IA8225043 since 2018. The three older entries, from 1999, 2005 and 2006, fall under the Consumer Confidence Report rule, category "Other", flagged as not health-based, and all returned to compliance.
With a published range topping out near 23 grains and no softening at the plant, the starting point for a Dixon home is a correctly sized softener, with reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink as an option.
Every price is all-in: equipment, installation, taxes and a lifetime parts warranty. Annual maintenance is $199 a year for a tank-RO home and $249 a year for a tankless-RO home. A diagnostic service call is $199, and a known-issue trip is $99 plus the part. We offer 0% financing and $100 off for military and first responders.
Already have a softener that runs out early or leaves spots anyway? At these hardness levels an old unit set for a lower number regenerates too late. Our water softener repair guide walks through the usual causes before you book a visit, and the Iowa water hardness by city table shows where Dixon sits against other published figures.
Farms and acreages outside the town's 104 connections are on their own wells, with no plant and no required monitoring. Scott County Health Department runs Iowa's Grants to Counties program here: it will sample a private well at no cost, sending it to a state-certified laboratory, and recommends testing for coliform bacteria and nitrate once a year, after pump or pipe work, and after a new well is drilled. The program can also reimburse part of the cost of plugging an unused well or rehabilitating an older one, and the department inspects and permits all private well construction in the county. Call 563-326-8618 to arrange a sample, and read our guide to free well water testing in Iowa.
Once the lab says the water is safe, we handle hardness, iron and taste with a well dual-tank system. UV is a supplemental NSF/ANSI 55 Class B unit for water that has already tested safe; it is never the fix for a contaminated well.
A range of 278 to 388 mg/L is a spread of more than six grains, and where your own tap lands decides how a softener should be programmed. We will measure hardness, iron and total dissolved solids at your kitchen sink and leave the readings and a written quote. The visit does not test bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, lead or PFAS, which need a certified lab. Book the free in-home water test, or call or text 319-319-6566.
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Iowa American Water's 2019 Typical Water Quality sheet for the Dixon system publishes total hardness of 278 to 388 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which is 16.2 to 22.7 grains per gallon. The system does not soften the water at its plant, and the Iowa DNR sample database holds no separate hardness result, so that sheet is the published figure for the current well.
From a single well. Dixon #2 was drilled on 22 July 2013 to 347 feet in the Silurian aquifer, according to the Iowa DNR Source Water Tracker. Iowa American Water says it acquired the system in 2013 and replaced a shallower well; the tracker dates that well to 1916 and records it as plugged.
Yes. We repair and maintain softeners, filters and reverse osmosis systems, including brands we did not sell. A diagnostic service call is $199 and a known-issue trip is $99 plus the part. Any installation work is done by licensed local plumbing professionals we vet, schedule, and stand behind.
EPA SDWIS lists no violations for PWSID IA8225043 since 2018. The three older records, from 1999, 2005 and 2006, are Consumer Confidence Report rule violations in the category Other, marked not health-based, and all returned to compliance. The 2025 water quality report states the water met state and federal requirements.
No. The free test measures hardness, iron and total dissolved solids at your kitchen sink. Nitrate, lead, bacteria, arsenic and PFAS need a certified laboratory. For reference, Iowa American Water reported nitrate at 1.33 ppm in 2025 and a lead 90th percentile of 6 ppb from 2024 sampling for Dixon.
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