Sheldon holds a distinction almost no Iowa town wants: the hardest finished water ever recorded in the state's public sample database. On 4 December 2019 a distribution-system sample — water already through the plant and out in the pipes — measured 848.4 milligrams per litre as calcium carbonate. That is 49.6 grains per gallon.
| Sheldon at a glance | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| Who supplies the water | Sheldon Water Department, PWSID IA7170040, serving 5,512 people in EPA SDWIS against a 2024 Census city estimate of 5,584 |
| Where it comes from | Twelve shallow alluvial wells at 21 to 39 feet, plus two deep Dakota sandstone wells — Well #9 at 615.5 feet from 1963 and Well #15 at 605 feet drilled 13 June 2014 — now blended with Lewis & Clark Regional supply |
| Softened at the plant | No. No EPA SDWIS treatment record for IA7170040 carries a softening objective |
| Published hardness | 848.4 mg/L as calcium carbonate in the distribution system on 4 December 2019 — 49.6 grains per gallon — and 1,140 mg/L at Well #15 on 23 March 2014, which is 66.7 grains. Both predate the Lewis & Clark blend |
That 848 mg/L figure is six years old, and Sheldon's supply has changed since. The Iowa DNR's sampling points now include one labelled “blended Sheldon wells and L&C”, with sodium results from 10 July and 9 October 2024 — so Lewis & Clark Regional water is in the mix today.
What has not happened is a new hardness sample. The state database carries no hardness result for Sheldon after December 2019. So the honest position is this: the last measured figure was extraordinary, the supply has since been diluted with regional water, and nobody has published what the new number is. In Sioux Center, the same regional connection cut hardness roughly in half. Sheldon may well have seen something similar. It may not have. Neither you nor we can know from the record.
Sodium is the one analyte with results on both sides of the change. At the treatment plant tap it measured 106.8 mg/L on 13 October 2021, 79.63 mg/L in December 2018 and 81.255 mg/L in November 2018. At the blended Sheldon-and-Lewis-&-Clark point it measured 61.53 mg/L in July 2024 and 64.05 mg/L in October 2024.
That is a real drop, and it is consistent with dilution by a lower-mineral regional supply. It is evidence about sodium, not proof about hardness — but it is the best signal the public record offers.
Sheldon's twelve active alluvial wells sit between 21 and 39 feet: #6, #7 and #8 from the 1950s at 28 to 30 feet, #10, #11 and #12 from 1979, #13 and #14 from January 2002 at 28 and 21 feet, and #5R from May 2009. The two Dakota wells are a different world — #9 at 615.5 feet drilled in 1963, and #15 at 605 feet drilled in June 2014. Well #15 is the one that tested at 1,140 mg/L.
Shallow wells that close to the surface are also the wells most exposed to what happens on the land above them, which is a reason a Sheldon kitchen benefits from reverse osmosis independent of the hardness question.
We size from a live reading here more than anywhere else in northwest Iowa, because the published figure is stale in a known direction. 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 O'Brien County homes get no regional blend and no municipal plant. They are on the raw local groundwater, which is the water that produced a 1,140 mg/L reading at the town's own deep well. Our well water setup is 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.
Sheldon is the clearest example in the state of why a published hardness number is no substitute for a measurement: the last one on record is six years old and the supply has changed since. 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 last hardness figure in the Iowa DNR sample database is 848.4 mg/L as calcium carbonate, taken in the distribution system on 4 December 2019 — 49.6 grains per gallon, the hardest finished-water result recorded for any Iowa town in that database. Sheldon has since begun blending Lewis & Clark Regional water into its supply and no hardness sample has been published since, so the current figure is unknown.
No. No EPA SDWIS treatment record for PWSID IA7170040 carries a softening objective. The reduction Sheldon has seen came from blending in Lewis & Clark Regional water, which dilutes the mineral load, not from a softening process at the plant.
Probably, but it has not been measured. Iowa DNR sampling points now include one labelled 'blended Sheldon wells and L&C', and sodium at that point measured 61.53 mg/L in July 2024 and 64.05 mg/L in October 2024, against 106.8 mg/L at the treatment plant tap in October 2021. That drop is consistent with dilution, but it is evidence about sodium, not a hardness result.
Both very shallow and very deep. The Iowa DNR lists twelve active alluvial wells between 21 and 39 feet, including Wells #13 and #14 drilled in January 2002 at 28 and 21 feet, alongside two Dakota sandstone wells — Well #9 at 615.5 feet from 1963 and Well #15 at 605 feet drilled on 13 June 2014.
That depends entirely on what your tap reads today, which is why we test before quoting here. If the reading is near the old 49-grain figure, the XL softener at $2,800, or $3,150 with reverse osmosis, is the correct size — a standard cabinet unit would regenerate constantly. If the blend has brought it down, the $2,500 softener or the $2,850 pairing will do.
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.
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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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