Le Mars has the most uniform water source of any town in this part of Iowa, and it is not a comfortable one. Every single active city well is screened in the Dakota sandstone, between 313 and 390 feet down, and the Dakota is the formation the U.S. Geological Survey identifies as carrying hardness among the largest of Iowa's principal aquifers.
| Le Mars at a glance | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| Who supplies the water | Le Mars Water Department, PWSID IA7540174, serving 10,606 people in EPA SDWIS against a 2024 Census city estimate of 10,674 |
| Where it comes from | Nine city wells, every one of them Dakota sandstone at 313 to 390 feet, per the Iowa DNR Source Water Protection Tracker |
| Softened at the plant | No. The seventeen EPA SDWIS treatment records for IA7540174 cover disinfection, filtration, iron and manganese removal and corrosion control — forced-draft aeration, permanganate, sand and gravity filtration, gaseous chlorination, four-log virus treatment and a phosphate inhibitor. None carries a softening objective |
| Published hardness | 450 mg/L at Well #14 in September 2020, and 482, 581, 584 and 665 mg/L at Wells #10, #9, #12 and #11 in August 2019 — 26.3 to 38.9 grains per gallon, per the Iowa DNR sample database, analyte 84 |
The five active-well readings are worth setting out individually, because the range is unusual for a town drawing from a single formation:
Nearly thirteen grains separate the softest well from the hardest, and which wells are running at a given hour is an operational decision, not a published one. That is the practical case for measuring at your own tap rather than trusting any single citywide figure.
Deep Dakota water carries more than calcium and magnesium. Total dissolved solids at the same Le Mars wells ran 676 mg/L at Well #10, 864 at Well #9, 890 at Well #12 and 1,022 mg/L at Well #11. The newest well, #15, sampled on 21 May 2025, came in far lower at 440 mg/L.
A softener does nothing about dissolved solids. It exchanges calcium and magnesium for sodium and leaves the rest of the mineral load in place, which is why a Le Mars kitchen usually wants reverse osmosis alongside the softener rather than instead of it. Sodium at the entry-point tap measured 44.73 and 41.8 mg/L, and just 15 mg/L at Well #15.
The seventeen federal treatment records for Le Mars break down into four jobs, and it is worth seeing them separately because none of them is softening. Under the iron-removal objective: forced-draft aeration, then sand and gravity filtration. Under the manganese objective: potassium permanganate followed by the same filters. Under disinfection: gaseous chlorination, plus a four-log virus inactivation credit — a specific regulatory standard requiring the system to demonstrate a 99.99% reduction in viruses. Under corrosion control: a phosphate inhibitor.
That four-log credit is worth noting. It is required of groundwater systems that the state judges to need it, and it means the disinfection contact time at Le Mars is engineered and monitored rather than nominal. It is a mark of a well-run plant. It also has nothing whatsoever to do with the calcium and magnesium in your shower.
High hardness and high dissolved solids in the same water is the clearest case there is for the paired system. 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 for a tankless-RO home. A full diagnostic service call is $199; a known-issue trip is $99 plus the part. We offer 0% financing, and $100 off for military and first responders. Ask for the written breakdown before you schedule, or start one through our instant quote.
Rural Plymouth County homes are on the same Dakota sandstone, without the city's aeration and permanganate stage to take out the iron and manganese first. That combination — heavy hardness, iron, and high dissolved solids — is what our well water setup is built for: a dual-tank system at $3,450, or $3,800 with tank RO, with UV disinfection at $700 and sediment pre-filtration at $500 when the readings call for them. We fit tank RO rather than tankless on a well, because high dissolved solids cost a tankless unit its pressure. Start with free well water testing.
We are licensed and insured, and our softeners are built from NSF/ANSI 44 certified components and our reverse osmosis systems are certified to NSF/ANSI 58. Installation is handled by licensed local plumbing professionals we vet, schedule and stand behind. Pricing is published and all-in, so the figure you read here is the figure on the paperwork. Distance and site conditions are the only things that can change it, and we tell you before you agree.
Thirteen grains separate your hardest city well from your softest, and nobody publishes which one is feeding your street today. We come to you, measure hardness, iron and dissolved solids at your own kitchen sink, and leave you the readings and a written quote at no charge, whichever way you decide. Book your free in-home water test.
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The Iowa DNR sample database records 450 mg/L as calcium carbonate at Well #14 in September 2020, and 482, 581, 584 and 665 mg/L at Wells #10, #9, #12 and #11 in August 2019. That is 26.3 to 38.9 grains per gallon. Le Mars does not soften, so those figures pass through to your tap largely intact.
No. The seventeen EPA SDWIS treatment records for PWSID IA7540174 cover disinfection, filtration, iron and manganese removal and corrosion control — forced-draft aeration, permanganate, sand and gravity filtration, gaseous chlorination, four-log virus treatment and a phosphate inhibitor. None of them carries a softening objective.
The Dakota sandstone, exclusively. The Iowa DNR Source Water Protection Tracker lists every active Le Mars well as Dakota, at depths from 313 to 390 feet: Well #7 at 354 feet drilled in 1969, #9 at 337 in 1990, #10 at 355 in 2002, #11 at 388 and #12 at 370 in 2004, and #14 at 390 in September 2020.
Because a softener exchanges calcium and magnesium for sodium and leaves the rest of the mineral load alone. Total dissolved solids at the Le Mars wells measured 676 mg/L at Well #10, 864 at Well #9, 890 at Well #12 and 1,022 mg/L at Well #11. Reverse osmosis is the stage that addresses dissolved solids, and it goes at the kitchen sink.
A Kind Water Co softener is $2,500, or $2,850 paired with reverse osmosis. The XL softener, which is often the right size at the top of the Le Mars hardness range, is $2,800 or $3,150 with RO. All figures are all-in with equipment, professional installation, taxes and a lifetime parts warranty, with 0% financing and $100 off for military and first responders.
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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