Runnells is a small town, about 467 people by the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate, and its water story is bigger than its size. The town once pumped its own water from a well more than 2,400 feet deep. Today SE Polk Rural Water delivers Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) water to Runnells taps, and the 2026 Central Iowa Water Works / DMWW water quality report names Runnells in its SE Polk Rural Water footnote. This page covers where the water comes from now, what the report shows for your system, and what we install when a test points somewhere. Kind Water Co offers its free in-home water test in Runnells, and we install and repair here.
| Runnells at a glance | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| Who supplies the water | SE Polk Rural Water, PWSID IA7774701, 7,565 people served through 3,026 connections (EPA SDWIS). The old Runnells Water Supply system, IA7774008, was deactivated on 25 August 2006 |
| Where it comes from | SE Polk Rural Water's only active source in SDWIS is a connection to Des Moines Water Works, whose Fleur Drive, L.D. McMullen and Saylorville plants treat the water |
| Softened at the plant | Yes, upstream at DMWW. Fleur Drive and McMullen use lime softening and Saylorville uses ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis. SE Polk Rural Water's own treatment plant has been inactive since 21 October 2010 |
| Published hardness | A goal, not a reading: DMWW strives to keep total hardness below 150 mg/L, about 8.8 grains per gallon. The Iowa DNR Drinking Water Portal returns no hardness samples for SE Polk Rural Water or the old Runnells system |
For about four decades Runnells had a deep municipal well. Iowa DNR's Source Water Tracker still lists it, now under SE Polk Rural Water: Runnells #3, drilled in 1967 to 2,402 feet in the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer, with a status of standby. EPA's SDWIS marks the same well, and the town's Plant #1, which ran aeration, filtration and chlorination, as inactive from 10 March 2006. The Runnells Water Supply system followed on 25 August 2006, and its one remaining active source record in SDWIS is the connection from SE Polk Rural Water.
SE Polk Rural Water has changed too. Its own Treatment Plant #1 went inactive on 21 October 2010. Its SDWIS records show it once bought water from Altoona (until 1999) and from the Pleasant Hill Water Department (until 1993), and had connections out to Bondurant and Alleman that closed in 2010. Today its one active source is Des Moines Water Works. SDWIS lists the district's mailing address as 2201 George Flagg Parkway, the same Des Moines address the report gives for DMWW, and the 2026 report lists both Runnells City Hall and DMWW customer service as contacts for Runnells.
Runnells doesn't get a row of its own in the regional report; it shares SE Polk Rural Water's. In that row, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), a by-product of disinfecting with chlorine, show a level found of 69 µg/L with a range of 42 to 94. The MCL is 80 µg/L, applied as a running annual average at each sampling location. Haloacetic acids (HAA5) show 11 µg/L, range 6 to 15, against a 60 µg/L MCL. The chlorine disinfectant running average is 1.00 mg/L, range 0.33 to 2.16, against a 4 mg/L maximum, and the row lists 9 monthly coliform samples with 0 positive.
These are samples from across the district, not readings from your kitchen tap. If chlorine taste is what bothers you, our whole-home carbon is NSF/ANSI 42 media for chlorine taste and odor; we don't claim it for disinfection by-products.
Buying metro water means sharing the metro's summers. When Central Iowa Water Works banned lawn watering on 6 June 2025, pending an imminent risk of violating the nitrate standard, its notice listed Runnells among the communities served by Des Moines Water Works. If nitrate is on your mind, note that our reverse osmosis units are certified to NSF/ANSI 58 for total dissolved solids, not for nitrate reduction, so we don't claim a nitrate result for them.
By the time DMWW water reaches Runnells, it has been lime-softened or run through reverse osmosis at the plant. That lowers hardness without removing it. DMWW's stated goal is total hardness below 150 mg/L, about 8.8 grains per gallon, which is a target and not a measurement from any Runnells home. On the U.S. Geological Survey scale, 121 to 180 mg/L is hard. No hardness sample for SE Polk Rural Water shows up in the Iowa DNR portal, so your own tap is the only Runnells number there is.
Our free in-home screening measures hardness, iron and total dissolved solids (TDS), and the result decides: a softener, reverse osmosis, both or nothing. It doesn't cover bacteria, nitrate, lead or PFAS, which need a certified laboratory; we'll point you to one.
Each price below is all-in: equipment, installation, taxes and warranty. Installs are done by licensed local plumbing professionals we vet, schedule, and stand behind.
Military and first responders take $100 off. Travel: the first 50 miles are free, then $1 a mile, quoted before you agree.
Outside town, farms and acreages in southeast Polk County may still rely on private wells. Polk County Environmental Health Services offers those well owners free drinking-well water testing with the Iowa DNR, covering coliform bacteria, E. coli, nitrate, arsenic and manganese, and recommends testing at least once a year. If a result shows contamination, the owner has to request the retest. See our guide to free well water testing in Iowa.
A bacteria result calls for professional follow-up from the county or a certified well contractor. For everyday problems like hardness, iron staining, a sulfur smell and sediment, our well water treatment starts with a dual-tank system at $3,450, or $3,800 with a tank RO. We add a $500 sediment filter, or $700 supplemental UV (NSF/ANSI 55 Class B) for water that has already tested safe. On a well we fit tank RO, never tankless.
We're licensed and insured, and every price we quote is published and all-in. Our softeners use NSF/ANSI 44 certified components and our reverse osmosis systems are certified to NSF/ANSI 58. In a town with no published hardness number of its own, we'd rather measure your water than guess.
We come to you, test hardness, iron and TDS at the kitchen sink, walk you through the readings and leave a written quote, with no obligation. If nothing needs treating, we'll say so. Request a quote or get an instant quote, or call or text 319-319-6566.
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SE Polk Rural Water, PWSID IA7774701, which buys its water from Des Moines Water Works. The 2026 Central Iowa Water Works / DMWW water quality report says its SE Polk Rural Water figures include water supplied to Runnells. The town's own system, Runnells Water Supply, was deactivated on 25 August 2006, according to EPA's SDWIS records.
Not as an active source. Iowa DNR's Source Water Tracker lists Runnells #3, a 2,402-foot Cambrian-Ordovician well drilled in 1967, under SE Polk Rural Water with a status of standby. EPA's SDWIS marks it inactive since 10 March 2006, and SE Polk Rural Water's only active source is Des Moines Water Works.
It's softened at the DMWW plants, but it can still count as hard. Des Moines Water Works' goal is total hardness below 150 mg/L, about 8.8 grains per gallon, and the U.S. Geological Survey calls 121 to 180 mg/L hard. That's a goal, not a reading, and no hardness sample for SE Polk Rural Water is in the Iowa DNR portal. Our free in-home test measures your tap.
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, covering coliform bacteria, E. coli, nitrate, arsenic and manganese. The county recommends testing once a year, and if contamination is found, the owner has to request the retest.
A softener with whole-home 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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