Polk County water comes down to two routes. Most homes are on a city system, where a utility treats the water and publishes an annual water quality report. The rest are on private wells, where the county will test the water for free and the homeowner makes the calls. This page covers both routes, what a well test result means, the towns in between, and what we install when a test points somewhere. Kind Water Co offers its free in-home water test in Des Moines, and we install and repair here.
On city water, the utility has already done the heavy lifting. Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) serves Des Moines, and its 2026 water quality report says its water also goes to Alleman, Berwick, Cumming, Pleasant Hill, Windsor Heights and unincorporated Polk County. Central Iowa Water Works (CIWW), a regional water production authority formed on 11 April 2024, began operating on 1 January 2025. Des Moines Water Works operates three treatment plants for CIWW.
Treated city water still carries minerals. The Fleur Drive and McMullen plants use lime softening, and Saylorville uses ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis. Des Moines Water Works' goal is to keep hardness below 150 mg/L, about 8.76 grains per gallon. That's a goal, not a reading from your tap. The U.S. Geological Survey calls 61 to 120 mg/L moderately hard and 121 to 180 mg/L hard, so softened at the plant isn't the same as soft at the sink. Whether your home needs a softener, reverse osmosis, both or nothing is something the tap test decides.
On a private well, nobody treats the water before it reaches the house, and there's no annual report to read. That's where Polk County's own program comes in.
Polk County's Environmental Health Services Division offers free drinking-well water testing to private well users in the county, in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The test covers coliform bacteria, E. coli, nitrate, arsenic and manganese. If contamination is found, it's up to the well owner to ask the county for a retest, so put that call on your list.
The Iowa 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.
The county also permits and inspects the construction of new wells and the plugging of old ones everywhere in Polk County, including inside the City of Des Moines. That jurisdiction covers wells; septic systems inside Des Moines are handled separately. Drilling a new well or plugging an old one starts with a county permit.
Coliform bacteria or E. coli. A bacteria result needs professional follow-up. Your county environmental health office or a certified well contractor can assess the well, find the cause, repair or disinfect it as needed, and retest before you rely on the water. Our UV is a Class B supplemental unit for water that has already tested safe; it isn't the fix for a contaminated well.
Nitrate or arsenic. Start with a certified lab result, and ask the county for a retest before you decide anything. EPA lists reverse osmosis, ion exchange and electrodialysis as best available technologies for nitrate. Our RO units are certified to NSF/ANSI 58 for total dissolved solids and are not certified for nitrate reduction, so we don't claim a nitrate result for them. A water softener doesn't remove nitrate. For arsenic, talk the number through with the county's environmental health office before buying anything.
Hardness, iron and sulfur. The county test doesn't measure hardness, and these everyday problems are the ones our systems treat: scale on fixtures, orange staining and a rotten-egg smell. A water softener removes the calcium and magnesium that cause scale. On a well, the goal is iron, sulfur and sediment handled, with supplemental UV for wells that test safe. Our free in-home screening measures hardness, iron and total dissolved solids (TDS). It doesn't test for bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, lead, PFAS or radium; those need a certified laboratory, and we'll point you to one.
City pages with local water data: Des Moines, West Des Moines, Ankeny, Urbandale, Johnston, Altoona, Polk City and Grimes. Four utilities still run treatment plants in the CIWW system: DMWW, West Des Moines Water Works, Grimes and Polk City. West Des Moines Water Works uses lime softening, Grimes runs two treatment facilities that use lime softening and reverse osmosis, and Polk City treats water from three alluvial wells with iron filtration.
Pleasant Hill's own water system was deactivated in 2005, according to EPA's drinking water records (SDWIS). DMWW's 2026 regional water quality report lists Pleasant Hill among the communities its water supplies, and the same report's SE Polk Rural Water entry includes the eastern portions of Pleasant Hill. Which side of town you live on decides which utility's numbers apply to you. See our Pleasant Hill page.
Both towns once ran their own water systems. EPA SDWIS records show Windsor Heights' system deactivated in 1989 and Alleman's in 2007. Both are now on DMWW water, per the 2026 regional water quality report, so DMWW's report is the one to read. See our Windsor Heights and Alleman pages.
Elkhart runs its own plant. EPA SDWIS lists the old plant as retired on 6 June 2025 and the new one treating with aeration, sodium bisulfite, polyphosphate and chlorine, with no softening listed. Iowa DNR records show hardness of 346 mg/L in a 2023 sample from the new Well #4, and 480 and 380 mg/L in 2020 samples labeled Well 2 and Well 3. That's roughly 20 to 28 grains per gallon (our conversion, at 17.1 mg/L per grain). These are samples from the wells, not readings from a kitchen tap. See our Elkhart page.
Each city below has its own page. Several, including Carlisle, Clive, Granger, Norwalk, Sheldahl, Urbandale and West Des Moines, sit partly in neighboring counties.
Every price is all-in: equipment, installation, taxes and warranty. Installs are done by licensed local plumbing professionals we vet, schedule, and stand behind, and we handle repairs here too.
Annual service is $199 a year for a tank-RO home and $249 a year for a tankless-RO home, and a diagnostic visit is $199. Travel is simple: the first 50 miles are free, then $1 a mile, and we quote it before you agree.
We come to your kitchen sink, measure hardness, iron and TDS, show you the numbers and leave a written quote, with no obligation. If the right answer is a softener, reverse osmosis, both or nothing, that's what you'll hear. Request a quote or get an instant quote, call or text 319-319-6566, or email ryan@kindwaterco.com.
Yes. Polk County Environmental Health Services offers free drinking-well water testing to private well users in the county, in conjunction with the Iowa DNR. The test covers coliform bacteria, E. coli, nitrate, arsenic and manganese. If contamination is found, the well owner has to ask the county for the retest.
Yes. Polk County permits and inspects new well construction and the plugging of old wells everywhere in the county, including inside the City of Des Moines. That covers wells only; septic systems inside Des Moines are handled separately.
A bacteria result needs professional follow-up. Your county environmental health office or a certified well contractor can assess the well, find the cause, repair or disinfect it as needed, and retest before you rely on the water. Our UV is a Class B supplemental unit for water that has already tested safe; it isn't the fix for a contaminated well.
It depends on your tap. Des Moines Water Works' goal is to keep hardness below 150 mg/L, about 8.76 grains per gallon. That's a goal, not a reading from your tap. The U.S. Geological Survey calls 121 to 180 mg/L hard. Our free in-home screening measures hardness, iron and total dissolved solids (TDS), and the result decides: a softener, reverse osmosis, both or nothing.
A whole-home softener with carbon filtration is $2,500, or $2,850 with reverse osmosis. Reverse osmosis alone is $800 tank or $900 tankless, and a well dual-tank system is $3,450, or $3,800 with a tank RO. Prices are all-in, with equipment, installation, taxes and warranty. Travel is free for the first 50 miles, then $1 a mile, quoted before you agree.
Every number on this page comes from a public record. Here is where to open each one yourself.
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