Kind Water Co installs water softeners, reverse osmosis drinking water systems, and well water treatment for Mount Vernon, Iowa homeowners. Mount Vernon's supply is genuinely unusual: per the city's 2023 Water Quality Report, it draws from two different aquifers — the Silurian dolomite and the deeper Cambrian-Ordovician sandstone — and no plant softening step is documented.
| Utility | Mount Vernon Water Supply, run by the city Water Department (Linn County) |
|---|---|
| Water source | Two aquifers — the dolomite of the Silurian aquifer and the sandstone and dolomite of the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer, per the 2023 Water Quality Report |
| Softened at the plant? | No municipal softening is documented in the city's 2023 report, and the low finished-water sodium it lists — 5.8 to 6.9 ppm — is consistent with water that has not been softened before it reaches you |
| One distinguishing fact | The same report rates the Silurian aquifer "highly susceptible" to surface contamination and the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer low susceptibility — two very different source stories feeding one small town |
Most Iowa towns have one source. Mount Vernon has two, and the city's 2023 Water Quality Report is unusually clear about it. Under Source Water Assessment the report describes both: "the dolomite of the Silurian aquifer" and "the sandstone and dolomite of the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer." Its results table then reports finished water at two sampling points — one labeled "05 - FINISHED WATER TAP, #5, #6, & #7" and one labeled "06 - FINISHED WATER TAP, #9 & #10" — five numbered wells supplying one small town. If you like this kind of thing, our guide to where eastern Iowa water comes from maps out how the region's towns are supplied.
Here is the part worth understanding, and it is worth reading calmly. Per the 2023 report, the Silurian aquifer "was determined to be highly susceptible to contamination because the characteristics of the aquifer and overlying materials provide little protection from contamination at the land surface." The same report describes the Cambrian-Ordovician side as having low susceptibility to surface contaminants such as leaking underground storage tanks, spills, and excess fertilizer application. That rating is a statement about geology — how well the rock above an aquifer shields it — not a test result about what came out of the tap.
And the tap results in that same report were clean. Per the city's 2023 report, nitrate measured below 0.25 ppm, the lead 90th-percentile result was 2.0 ppb, total trihalomethanes came in at 16 ppb, and sodium at 5.8 to 6.9 ppm, with no violations listed on any line. The report is published annually and, in its own words, "is available to view on the City website at www.cityofmtvernon-ia.gov or at City Hall." That is a small utility doing its job, and we will happily say so.
So what is left for a homeowner? Two things a treatment plant does not handle: the minerals that make water hard on the way through your pipes, and the final polish on the water you actually drink and cook with.
We will be straight with you: we do not publish a hardness number for Mount Vernon, because the city's report does not include one. Hardness is not a regulated contaminant, so it is routinely absent from Iowa Consumer Confidence Reports. What we can tell you is that this is unsoftened deep-well groundwater, and unsoftened groundwater in this corner of Linn County runs hard.
For context: the USGS classifies water under 60 mg/L as soft and anything over 180 mg/L as very hard, where 17.1 mg/L equals one grain per gallon. Northwest of town, Marion's unsoftened supply runs 18 to 20 grains per gallon, per a 2023 Gazette report, and Cedar Rapids treats raw water measured at 15.8 grains per gallon down to roughly 6.5 to 7 grains at the tap. Mount Vernon's report documents no such softening step, so what leaves the wells is essentially what arrives at your water heater. Our Iowa water hardness by city guide shows how the region stacks up.
Hardness is a housekeeping and comfort issue, not a safety one. It is the white film on the shower door, the crust on the faucet aerator, the laundry that never feels soft, and the water heater working harder than it needs to. The only way to know your house's number is to measure it at your tap — which is exactly what our free in-home test does.
Every price below is all-in: equipment, professional installation, taxes, and a lifetime warranty on parts. No surprise line items at the end.
Military members and first responders take $100 off any system, and 0% financing is available on everything. Our $199/year care plan keeps filters and media on schedule so you do not have to think about it.
Plenty of homes on the gravel roads around Mount Vernon, Lisbon, and rural eastern Linn County are on private wells — and nobody tests those but you. The Iowa DNR recommends testing a private well at least once a year, and through Iowa's Private Well Grants program that testing is available free through your county lab. Our guide to free well water testing in Iowa explains how to book it.
A few things worth knowing before you test. Per Iowa State University Extension, nitrate is odorless and tasteless, so testing is the only way to know it is present, and it can be removed by reverse osmosis, distillation, or anion exchange; the CDC likewise notes that reverse osmosis reduces nitrate while boiling does not remove chemical contaminants at all. On the nuisance side, EPA secondary standards set iron at 0.3 mg/L and manganese at 0.05 mg/L — the thresholds behind orange staining and metallic taste. Penn State Extension notes a softener alone generally handles iron only below 5 mg/L, which is why iron and sulfur systems get quoted after your free water test rather than off a price list.
For everything else, our well water treatment lineup starts with a dual-tank softener built for continuous soft water at $3,450, or $3,800 with a tank RO for the kitchen.
We are a family-owned Iowa company, founded in 2021 by Ryan Brunton and headquartered in Marion, about a twenty-minute drive northwest. Every installation is performed by licensed local plumbing professionals we vet, schedule, and stand behind, so you get one point of contact and no runaround. Every system carries a lifetime warranty on parts, five years on media, and one year on labor. We are fully insured and bonded, we offer 0% financing, and we will tell you plainly if your water does not need treatment. Our name is our promise.
The honest answer to "what is in my water?" is always your water, tested. We come to your home, test your tap for free, explain the results in plain English, and give you a real all-in price on the spot — no pressure, no sales theater. Call or text 319-319-6566, email ryan@kindwaterco.com, or grab an instant quote online in about a minute.
Also serving nearby: we cover Mount Vernon, Lisbon, Springville, Solon, and the rural routes in between, along with Marion and the rest of the Cedar Rapids corridor.
Mount Vernon's water quality report does not list a hardness figure — hardness is not a regulated contaminant, so Iowa reports routinely skip it. What we can say is that this is deep-well groundwater with no plant softening documented. For comparison, Marion's unsoftened supply runs 18 to 20 grains per gallon per a 2023 Gazette report. A free in-home test gives you your actual number.
No municipal softening is documented in the city's 2023 Water Quality Report, and the low finished-water sodium it lists — 5.8 to 6.9 ppm across its two sampling points — is consistent with unsoftened water. That means whatever hardness the wells produce is what reaches your water heater. Softening happens at home here: a standard softener runs $2,500 installed, all-in.
Two aquifers, per the city's 2023 Water Quality Report: the dolomite of the Silurian aquifer and the deeper sandstone and dolomite of the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer. The report's results table covers five numbered wells at two finished-water sampling points — #5, #6, and #7 at one, #9 and #10 at the other — all feeding one city system.
Per the 2023 report, the Silurian aquifer was rated highly susceptible because the aquifer and the materials above it provide little protection from contamination at the land surface, while the Cambrian-Ordovician side was rated low susceptibility. That rates the geology, not the tap — the same report listed nitrate below 0.25 ppm, a lead 90th-percentile result of 2.0 ppb, and no violations.
A standard softener is $2,500 installed and a softener plus reverse osmosis drinking water system is $2,850. XL sizing is $2,800, or $3,150 with RO. Every price includes equipment, installation, taxes, and a lifetime parts warranty. 0% financing is available, and military members and first responders take $100 off.
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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