Waukee does something almost no Iowa city does: it publishes a measured hardness range. The City's water quality page tells residents to expect an average of 7.5 to 8.5 grains per gallon. That is not a target or an estimate borrowed from a supplier — it is a municipality stating what it actually sees, and it makes Waukee the most useful reference point in the metro.
| Waukee at a glance | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| Who supplies the water | City of Waukee water supply, PWSID IA2573080, 31,823 people served (EPA SDWIS); a founding member of Central Iowa Water Works |
| Where it comes from | Purchased surface water from Des Moines Water Works, mainly the L.D. McMullen plant on the Raccoon River, plus the LP Moon storage tank and one city-operated aquifer storage and recovery well |
| Softened at the plant | Yes, at the supplier's plant. The 2026 regional report names Waukee among the areas served by L.D. McMullen, which uses lime softening. Waukee adds no softening of its own |
| Published hardness | Average 7.5 to 8.5 grains per gallon, per the City of Waukee's official Water Quality page — the only measured range published by a municipality anywhere in this metro |
Des Moines Water Works states that it “strives to maintain the total hardness of the drinking water to less than 150 mg/L or 8.76 grains.” That is a ceiling the utility works toward. Waukee, drinking the same water, tells its residents the average lands between 7.5 and 8.5 grains per gallon. The two are consistent, and the second one is far more useful, because it describes what came out of a tap rather than what a plant aims for.
At 7.5 to 8.5 grains, Waukee water is softened and still hard. You will see less scale than a household in Cedar Rapids or Dubuque fights, and you will still find film on shower glass and spotting on dark dishes. It also means a softener here can be specified accurately, because there is a real starting number to size from. Our rundown of the signs you need a softener is a fair place to sanity-check what you are seeing at home.
The 2026 regional report states that “the CITY OF WAUKEE operates one ASR well.” Aquifer storage and recovery means treated water is injected underground when demand is low and pulled back when demand peaks, and water that has been stored tests differently from water fresh off a plant.
The published figures show the gap. Waukee ASR Well 2 tested nitrate at 4.9 mg/L (range 1.5 to 4.9), fluoride at 1.30 mg/L and sodium at 72 mg/L (range 28 to 72) in 2025. DMWW plant water in the same period ran 0.80 mg/L of fluoride and 53.38 mg/L of sodium at Fleur Drive. So a Waukee household in August may genuinely be drinking a different chemistry than the same household in February. Ankeny, running two ASR wells, is the other city in the metro where this applies.
The 2026 report also notes a UCMR5 lithium detection in Waukee at 30 to 34 µg/L, the highest reported in the metro. UCMR5 is an EPA monitoring programme for unregulated contaminants — it exists to gather occurrence data, and there is no standard set for lithium in drinking water. We are reporting it because it is in the record and because a Waukee homeowner deserves to hear it from us rather than from a competitor's scare page. What it is not is a limit that has been exceeded.
Waukee has grown faster than almost any city in Iowa, and the housing stock reflects it: large new homes, multiple baths, and a lot of simultaneous demand at seven in the morning. Sizing is where that matters. A standard softener covers most one-to-six-occupant households comfortably; once you are at eight or more people or four or more bathrooms, the XL build is usually the honest recommendation, because the constraint is flow rate rather than floor area. That is a conversation worth having with the test results in hand rather than from a brochure.
All prices are 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 call is $199, or $99 for a known-issue trip plus the part. Financing is 0%, and military and first responders get $100 off. Ask for the written breakdown before booking, or start one at our instant quote.
Dallas County still has plenty of acreages outside any municipal service area, drawing private wells with no plant, no ASR and no annual report. 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 — high dissolved solids cost a tankless unit its pressure. Begin 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. Every install is done by licensed local plumbing professionals we vet, schedule and stand behind. Our pricing is published and all-in, so what you read is what you sign, whatever the size of the house.
Waukee gives you a better published number than almost anywhere in Iowa, and it is still a city average across a system whose chemistry shifts with the season. Fifteen minutes at your kitchen sink turns it into your number. We test hardness, iron and total dissolved solids, and leave you the readings and a written quote at no charge. Nitrate and bacteria need a certified lab, and we will point you to one. Book your free in-home water test.
West Des Moines · Urbandale · Grimes · Des Moines · Johnston
The City of Waukee's official water quality page states an average of 7.5 to 8.5 grains per gallon. That makes Waukee the only municipality in the Des Moines metro publishing a measured hardness range rather than a supplier's target. Des Moines Water Works, which supplies the water, states a target of less than 8.76 grains.
Waukee buys treated surface water from Des Moines Water Works, mainly from the L.D. McMullen plant on the Raccoon River, which the 2026 regional report names as serving Waukee. The city also has the LP Moon storage tank and operates one aquifer storage and recovery well of its own.
It can. The 2026 regional report states Waukee operates one ASR well, storing treated water underground in cold months and recovering it in summer. Waukee ASR Well 2 tested nitrate at 4.9 mg/L, fluoride at 1.30 mg/L and sodium at 72 mg/L in 2025, against 0.80 fluoride and 53.38 sodium at the DMWW plant.
The 2026 regional report lists a UCMR5 lithium detection in Waukee at 30 to 34 µg/L, the highest reported in the metro. UCMR5 is an EPA monitoring programme that gathers occurrence data on unregulated contaminants, and there is no drinking water standard for lithium. No limit was exceeded, because no limit exists.
Sometimes. The deciding factor is simultaneous demand rather than square footage: a standard softener suits most one-to-six-occupant households, while eight or more residents or four or more bathrooms usually calls for the XL. In Waukee, with a lot of large newer builds, it comes up often. The XL is $2,800, or $3,150 with reverse osmosis.
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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