Straight answer: Hiawatha tap water is hard — 14 to 20 grains per gallon, per the city's 2025 water quality report — because the Hiawatha Water Department removes iron but doesn't soften. Kind Water Co installs water softeners and reverse osmosis drinking-water systems across Hiawatha, with honest all-in pricing and installation by licensed local plumbers.
| Quick fact | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| Utility | Hiawatha Water Department (PWSID IA5735045) |
| Water source | Five deep wells, 350–530 feet, drawing from the Silurian aquifer, per the city's 2025 water quality report |
| Softened at the plant? | No — the city runs iron removal, fluoride adjustment, poly-orthophosphate, and chlorine disinfection, but no softening |
| One distinguishing fact | The city's published hardness of 14–20 grains per gallon reaches your taps as-is |
Hiawatha pumps its water from five deep wells, 350 to 530 feet down, drawing on the Silurian aquifer — dolomite and limestone, per the city's 2025 water quality report. Deep-well water is wonderfully reliable, and it picks up dissolved calcium and magnesium on its long trip through all that rock. The same report puts hardness at 14 to 20 grains per gallon. Using the standard conversion of 17.1 mg/L per grain, that's roughly 240 to 340 mg/L — well past the 180 mg/L mark the USGS classifies as “very hard.” Even the bottom of the city's published range lands in that band, which is the practical thing to know: for Hiawatha, hard water isn't a borderline call.
Credit where it's due: the Hiawatha Water Department runs an iron removal plant, per the 2025 report, along with fluoride adjustment, poly-orthophosphate for corrosion control, and chlorine disinfection. What the plant doesn't do is soften. Neighboring Cedar Rapids does — the city utility's published FAQ says water arrives at the plant averaging about 15.8 grains per gallon and leaves at 6.5 to 7 after lime softening. So Hiawatha water reaches the tap roughly two to three times harder than the water one town over, and much closer to unsoftened Marion, reported at 18 to 20 grains per gallon (The Gazette, 2023).
That's why Hiawatha homes tend to see the same short list over and over: white spots on glasses and fixtures, chalky scale in kettles, shower heads and water heaters, soap and shampoo that never quite lather, and laundry that comes out stiffer than it should. That's the everyday, aesthetic side of hard water — the nuisance side — and it's exactly what a softener is built to take care of.
Two more items from the 2025 report, stated plainly. Nitrate: a single 2025 sample at 4.6 ppm, below the 10 ppm federal limit, with no violation listed. Copper: the most recent tap sampling published in the report, from 2023, shows a 90th-percentile result of 1.1 ppm with 2 samples exceeding the 1.3 ppm action level, and the report lists no violation for it. That same report names corrosion of household plumbing systems among the sources of copper — which is why the city adds poly-orthophosphate for corrosion control, and why your own faucet is the only one that can answer for your house. Our Hiawatha water report breaks the city's published numbers down line by line.
Every price below is all-in: equipment, professional installation, taxes, and a lifetime parts warranty. No surprise line items, ever.
We size the softener to your household's water use and to Hiawatha's published hardness, so it regenerates on the right schedule instead of working through salt it never needed. 0% financing is available on every system, military members and first responders get $100 off, and our $199-a-year care plan keeps settings, salt, and filters on track long after install day.
Out on the rural edges of Linn County around Hiawatha, plenty of homes run on private wells — and a private well is entirely the homeowner's to manage, with no city report landing in the mailbox each spring. The Iowa DNR recommends testing private wells every year, and Iowa's Private Well Grants program makes that painless: free testing through your county's lab. Here's how to get your free well test. When the results come back, our well water treatment lineup covers it: a Well Dual-Tank softener at $3,450 ($3,800 with a tank RO), sediment filtration at $500, UV disinfection at $700, and iron or sulfur equipment quoted after testing. And if your numbers come back clean, we'll happily tell you that instead.
We're a family-owned company, founded in 2021 by Ryan Brunton and headquartered right next door in Marion — Hiawatha is about as local as our service area gets. Every installation is handled by licensed local plumbing professionals we vet, schedule, and stand behind. Every system carries a lifetime parts warranty, a 5-year media warranty, and a 1-year labor warranty. We're insured and bonded, financing is 0%, and the number we quote is the number you pay, taxes and installation included. Our name is our promise: no scare tactics, no pressure — just honest numbers and kind service.
We'll test hardness, iron, chlorine, and total dissolved solids right at your kitchen sink — free, about 20 minutes, zero obligation. You'll leave with your numbers written down whether you buy anything or not. Call or text 319-319-6566, email ryan@kindwaterco.com, or grab an instant quote online and we'll follow up with a time that works.
Also serving nearby: we cover the whole metro, including Cedar Rapids and Marion, plus Robins, Toddville, and the rural Linn County homes in between.
Hard — the city's 2025 water quality report publishes a range of 14 to 20 grains per gallon. Converted at the standard 17.1 mg/L per grain, that's roughly 240 to 340 mg/L, well beyond the 180 mg/L threshold the USGS classifies as “very hard.” The city doesn't soften at the plant, so that hardness reaches your taps unless your home has its own softener.
Five deep wells, 350 to 530 feet deep, drawing groundwater from the Silurian aquifer, per the city's 2025 water quality report. The Hiawatha Water Department treats it with an iron removal plant, fluoride adjustment, poly-orthophosphate for corrosion control, and chlorine disinfection. Softening isn't part of the process, which is why hardness arrives at homes unchanged.
The city's 2025 water quality report lists a single 2025 nitrate sample at 4.6 ppm — below the 10 ppm federal limit, with no violation listed. Iowa State University Extension notes nitrate is odorless and tasteless, and that reverse osmosis, distillation, or anion exchange remove it; the CDC notes boiling does not remove chemicals. A free in-home test gives you your own tap's number.
The 2025 report publishes the most recent tap sampling, from 2023: a 90th-percentile copper result of 1.1 ppm, with 2 samples exceeding the 1.3 ppm action level and no violation listed. The report names corrosion of household plumbing among copper's sources, which is why the city adds poly-orthophosphate. Our free in-home test checks your own faucet in about 20 minutes.
$2,500 all-in — equipment, professional installation, taxes, and a lifetime parts warranty are all included in that number. Add reverse osmosis drinking water for $2,850 total, or step up to the XL at $2,800 ($3,150 with RO) for larger households. Financing is 0%, military members and first responders get $100 off, and the in-home water test is free.
Every number on this page comes from a public record. Here is where to open each one yourself.
Whole-home water softening, filtration, and reverse-osmosis drinking water — professionally installed and built to last a lifetime.
Serving Marion, Cedar Rapids & surrounding Linn County communities
Kind Water Co is a d/b/a of Zero Cap Investments LLC · 2258 Bison St, Apt B, Marion, IA 52302
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