Water Softeners, Filtration & Reverse Osmosis in Granger, Iowa

Granger sits on the north-west edge of the Des Moines metro, right on a county line. Of its 2,095 residents in the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate, 1,551 live in Dallas County and 544 in Polk. It also runs its own water. Johnston, Urbandale and Grimes drink water that has been softened at a plant. Granger pumps from two city wells and treats for iron and manganese, and no step on its federal treatment record is filed as softening.

A century of Granger wells

Granger has drunk its own groundwater for more than a hundred years. The state's source-water records list Well #1 drilled in 1918, #2 in 1922, #3 in 1949 and #4 in 1972, each about 108 feet into the same buried sand and gravel. All four are now plugged. EPA's records retire them, along with the original Treatment Plant #1, on 29 March 2010, after Wells #5 and #6 and a second plant took over.

The switch changed the iron story more than the hardness story. State samples from the old wells in 2002 and 2003 ran 6.2 to 7.2 mg/L of iron. EPA's secondary standard for iron is 0.3 mg/L, and it's set for staining and taste, not health. New Well #6 tested 3.2 mg/L of iron in 2009, before it went into service. So the source still carries a lot of iron, which is why the plant is built around aeration, permanganate and filtration. After treatment, distribution samples in 2012 and 2013 measured under 0.02 to 0.07 mg/L of iron, and entry-point manganese samples since 2021 have run from under 0.005 to 0.04 mg/L (Iowa DNR).

What 340 mg/L means at your tap

Hardness is the one thing Granger's plant isn't built to change. Aeration and filtration pull out iron and manganese, and calcium and magnesium pass through. The only hardness result in the state portal for this system is that 2009 raw sample from Well #6: 340 mg/L, with 400 mg/L of total dissolved solids in the same bottle. The U.S. Geological Survey calls anything above 180 mg/L very hard. At 17.1 mg/L per grain, 340 mg/L works out to about 20 grains per gallon (our conversion).

We won't tell you that's your number. It's one sample, from one of two wells, taken 17 years ago. But it's the best public clue there is, and it points a long way from the water next door. Des Moines Water Works, which supplies Johnston and Urbandale, aims to keep hardness below 150 mg/L, about 8.8 grains per gallon. That's a goal rather than a tap reading, and it still sits in the USGS hard band of 121 to 180 mg/L. Grimes softens at its own plants. Granger's water reaches the tap with its hardness intact.

Sodium is worth a look too. Because nothing softens Granger's water at the plant, its sodium comes from the aquifer: 37 mg/L at the treatment plant entry point in September 2025, and 22.3 to 37.3 mg/L in every sample since 2016 (Iowa DNR). A home softener adds some sodium, and a reverse osmosis tap at the kitchen sink is the usual pairing for drinking and cooking water once the house is softened.

What we install and service in Granger

In Granger a whole-home softener is the likely recommendation, and iron is the reason to size it with care. Iron that reaches a house lands in the resin bed and quietly costs it capacity, so we specify every softener here from your hardness and iron readings together. Every price is all-in: equipment, installation, taxes and a lifetime parts warranty. Installs are done by licensed local plumbing professionals we vet, schedule, and stand behind.

• Whole-home softener with carbon filtration — $2,500, or $2,850 with reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink. Built from NSF/ANSI 44 certified components. See how our softeners work.
• XL softener — $2,800, or $3,150 with RO. For eight or more people or four or more bathrooms.
• Softener only — $1,900. A resin-only tank, with no carbon stage.
• Whole-home carbon filtration — $1,150, or $1,450 catalytic. For chlorine taste and odor. See whole-home carbon filtration.
• Reverse osmosis on its own — $800 tank, $900 tankless. Both are certified to NSF/ANSI 58 for total dissolved solids. How our RO works.
• Iron filtration for heavier iron is quoted after your test. See iron and sulfur filtration.

Softener repair. If the softener you already own has stopped keeping up, we repair and service existing systems, other brands included. A diagnostic visit is $199, and a known-issue trip is $99 plus the part. Our softener repair guide covers the usual faults. Annual service is $199 a year for a tank-RO home and $249 for a tankless-RO home. Travel is simple: the first 50 miles are free, then $1 a mile, and we quote it before you agree. Financing is 0%, and military and first responders take $100 off. You can start from our instant quote.

Acreages and rural water outside town

Outside city limits the supply changes. Rural homes around Granger may be on Xenia Rural Water District, which serves all or part of 11 counties, including Dallas and Polk. Xenia extended service into Polk and southern Dallas counties in 1994 by buying water from Des Moines Water Works, and it built its own treatment plant in 2004. If you're a Xenia member, ask the district for its numbers; they aren't Granger's.

Other homes draw private wells, where nobody treats the water before it reaches the house. Dallas County Environmental Health points well owners to a state grant program that pays for testing. On the Polk side, Polk County's Environmental Health Services offers free testing for coliform bacteria, E. coli, nitrate, arsenic and manganese, run with the Iowa DNR. The DNR recommends testing every private well at least once a year for coliform bacteria and nitrate, with at least one arsenic test. Our guide to free well water testing in Iowa walks through the steps.

For hardness, iron and sediment on a well, our well water system is a dual-tank build at $3,450, or $3,800 with a tank RO. A sediment filter is $500, and supplemental UV (NSF/ANSI 55 Class B) is $700 for wells that have already tested safe. On a well we fit a tank RO, never a tankless one, because high dissolved solids cost a tankless unit its pressure.

Why Granger homeowners call us

We're licensed and insured. Our softeners are built from NSF/ANSI 44 certified components, and our reverse osmosis systems are certified to NSF/ANSI 58. Our pricing is published and all-in. And in a town where the only public hardness number is a 2009 well sample, we'd rather measure your water than guess at it.

Get your free Granger water test

We come to your kitchen sink, measure hardness, iron and total dissolved solids (TDS), show you the readings and leave a written quote, at no charge. The tap test decides whether you need a softener, reverse osmosis, both or nothing. It doesn't cover bacteria, nitrate or arsenic; those need a certified lab, and we'll point you to one. Request a quote or get an instant quote.

Also serving nearby

Grimes · Johnston · Polk City · Urbandale · Waukee · Polk County