Here is the Dubuque County fact that costs homeowners the most money when they do not know it: the City of Dubuque lime-softens its water and tells customers they do not need to soften it further — but the surrounding towns do not soften at all. Asbury, Peosta, Epworth and Cascade all run their own unsoftened deep-well systems. Cross a city limit and the right equipment changes completely.
| Community | Source | Softened at the plant? | Notable published fact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dubuque | Nine city wells, treated at the Eagle Point plant | Yes — lime softening, roughly 280 mg/L down to about 100 mg/L (about 6 gpg) | The city's own FAQ says customers do not need to soften the water further |
| Asbury | Asbury Municipal Water System (PWSID IA3102001), serving 5,943 — its own deep wells, not Dubuque's supply | No softening documented — treatment described is chlorination at wellhouse plants | No hardness figure is published by the city, the report, or Iowa DNR — so we do not quote one |
| Peosta | Peosta Water Supply (PWSID 3170001) — city-owned; per the city, "Peosta residents own the water system" | No softening documented — the 2025 report shows disinfection and fluoride only | Chlorine running average 1.2 ppm; sodium 80.9–86 ppm. One of Iowa's fastest-growing cities |
| Dyersville | Two bedrock wells at 1,800 feet | Not stated — but the city runs dedicated radium-removal treatment | 2025 report: combined radium 0.0 pCi/L running average after treatment, against a 4.31 pCi/L raw single sample. The city self-reported a first-quarter radium monitoring violation at Well #4 |
| Epworth | Groundwater — Wells #2 (1964), #3 and #4 (1978), three treatment plants, per Iowa DNR | No softening documented | 2025 report lists nitrate up to 8.3 ppm (range 5.4–8.3) against the 10 ppm limit — the highest in the county group |
| Cascade | Three wells — two in the Jordan Sandstone Aquifer, one in the Silurian Limestone Aquifer | No softening published | The city publishes system capacity: about 1,440,000 gallons/day, a 400,000-gallon tower, 12 miles of main. Sodium 69 ppm |
For scale: the USGS calls water above 180 mg/L "very hard," 121–180 "hard," 61–120 "moderately hard." One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so Dubuque's roughly 100 mg/L finished water is about 6 grains.
Dubuque's Eagle Point plant is doing real work — lime softening from roughly 280 mg/L down to about 100, and the city says plainly that customers do not need to soften further. We agree with them, and we will say so at a Dubuque kitchen table.
What trips people up is assuming that applies to the whole county. It does not. Asbury and Peosta run their own municipal systems with their own deep wells — they are not on Dubuque water and nothing in their published treatment removes hardness. A homeowner who moves from Dubuque out to Asbury and wonders why the shower doors changed has just met that difference.
Neither Asbury nor Peosta publishes a hardness number, and we will not invent one. Deep Cambrian-Ordovician groundwater is typically hard, but "typically" is not a measurement — which is exactly what a free ten-minute test at your sink produces.
Epworth's nitrate. The 2025 report lists nitrate measured up to 8.3 ppm, range 5.4 to 8.3, against the EPA's 10 ppm maximum contaminant level, with no violation reported. That is the city's own number. If nitrate at the drinking tap matters to you, Iowa State University extension materials list reverse osmosis, distillation and anion exchange as the technologies that remove it — and the CDC notes boiling does not remove chemical contaminants. An $800 RO system is the practical answer.
Dyersville's radium treatment. The city runs dedicated radium-removal treatment on its 1,800-foot wells, and the 2025 report shows a combined radium running average of 0.0 pCi/L after treatment against a 4.31 pCi/L raw single sample — the treatment is working. The city also self-reported a first-quarter monitoring violation at Well #4, which is a paperwork event rather than a contamination finding. We mention both because they are in the city's own document.
Outside the towns, this is farm country running on private wells, and no utility reports on any of them. The Iowa DNR recommends annual testing for bacteria and nitrate, and Iowa's Private Well Grants program covers free county lab testing through your county environmental health office.
The three complaints we hear most from Dubuque County well owners are orange iron staining, a rotten-egg hydrogen sulfide smell, and hardness well past what a city-sized softener handles. Different problems, different equipment. See our well water guide, free well testing, iron staining, rotten-egg smell, or well treatment costs.
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City pages with local water data: Dubuque, Asbury, Peosta, Dyersville, Epworth, and Cascade. We also serve Farley, Dyersville's rural routes, Sherrill, Durango, New Vienna and the acreages between — plus Bellevue and Maquoketa down the river.
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Yes. The city lime-softens at its Eagle Point plant, taking water from roughly 280 mg/L down to about 100 mg/L — approximately 6 grains per gallon — and the city's own FAQ states customers do not need to soften it further. That is a genuinely good municipal system and we say so.
No. Both run their own municipal systems on their own deep wells — Asbury Municipal Water System serving 5,943, and Peosta Water Supply, which the city describes as owned by Peosta residents. Neither publishes a softening step, so unsoftened deep-well water reaches those taps.
Neither city publishes a hardness figure, so we will not quote one. What is documented is that no municipal softening appears in their treatment, which means whatever the aquifer delivers reaches your house. A free ten-minute test at your kitchen sink produces your actual number.
The city's 2025 report lists nitrate measured up to 8.3 ppm, with a range of 5.4 to 8.3, against the EPA's 10 ppm maximum contaminant level, and reported no violation. If you want it out of your drinking water, reverse osmosis is the standard method — $800 installed. Boiling does not remove it.
It treats for it. Dyersville runs dedicated radium-removal treatment on its two 1,800-foot bedrock wells, and the 2025 report shows a combined radium running average of 0.0 pCi/L after treatment against a 4.31 pCi/L raw single sample. The city also self-reported a first-quarter monitoring violation at Well #4.
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