Windsor Heights is a small city fully surrounded by Des Moines and Clive, and the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate puts it at 5,106 residents. Its water story is just as bound up with its neighbours. Windsor Heights does not treat water and has not run its own water system since 1989. What comes out of your tap is Des Moines Water Works water, and Des Moines Water Works handles customer service for it.
| Windsor Heights at a glance | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| Who supplies the water | Des Moines Water Works, PWSID IA7727031, 246,055 people served (EPA SDWIS). The 2026 Central Iowa Water Works / DMWW water quality report lists Windsor Heights among the communities DMWW supplies |
| The city's old system | Windsor Heights Water Dept., PWSID IA7791027, deactivated on 3 July 1989. It served 4,891 people through 2,142 connections, and its only source in EPA's record was a connection buying water from Des Moines Water Works |
| Softened at the plant | Yes. The 2026 report describes treatment of softening, filtration and disinfection at DMWW's plants, and ultrafiltration plus reverse osmosis at Saylorville |
| Published hardness | A goal, not a reading: DMWW says it strives to keep total hardness below 150 mg/L, about 8.76 grains per gallon (DMWW FAQ) |
EPA's record for the old Windsor Heights Water Dept. tells a short story. Its primary source is coded as purchased surface water, and the single facility on file is a connection from Des Moines Water Works (IA7727031). That connection closed on 1 July 1989, and the city system itself was deactivated two days later. In other words, Windsor Heights was already drinking Des Moines water before 1989. After that date the city no longer appears as a water system of its own.
Today the arrangement is written into the regional report. The 2026 water quality report footnotes its Des Moines Water Works results as including water supplied to Alleman, Berwick, Cumming, Pleasant Hill, unincorporated Polk County and Windsor Heights. The same report's contact page gives Windsor Heights City Hall for local questions and Des Moines Water Works customer service for water. So if you want the numbers behind your tap, the DMWW report is the one to read, and our Des Moines page walks through it.
DMWW runs three treatment plants for Central Iowa Water Works. The 2026 report says the L.D. McMullen plant serves southern Des Moines, Waukee and parts of Warren Water District, Clive, Urbandale and West Des Moines. Saylorville serves residents north of Des Moines. Every other area gets water from Fleur Drive, which draws from the Raccoon River, the Des Moines River and an infiltration gallery under Water Works Park. Windsor Heights is not named in the McMullen or Saylorville descriptions, which by the report's own wording points to Fleur Drive. We say "points to" because the report doesn't name the city in that line.
Softened at the plant is not the same as soft at the sink. DMWW's goal of under 150 mg/L sits in the U.S. Geological Survey's "hard" band, which runs from 121 to 180 mg/L. The goal is also a target, not a measurement from a Windsor Heights kitchen. That is why we test before we recommend anything. Depending on your reading and what bothers you, the right answer might be a softener, reverse osmosis, both, or nothing at all.
Cross into Clive and the water comes by a different road. Clive runs its own water department and, per EPA's record, buys its water from Central Iowa Water Works; its old direct connection to Des Moines Water Works ended on 1 January 2025. Its only local treatment record is chlorination. Windsor Heights has none of that in between: it is served straight from DMWW. Both towns are drinking regionally treated river water, which is why our advice across this part of the metro starts in the same place, with a test at your tap.
Every price is all-in: equipment, installation, taxes and warranty. Installs are done by licensed local plumbing professionals we vet, schedule, and stand behind.
Annual service is $199 a year for a tank-RO home and $249 for a tankless-RO home. Travel is simple: the first 50 miles are free, then $1 a mile, and we quote it before you agree. Windsor Heights sits well inside that first 50 miles. For a ballpark first, try our instant quote.
Windsor Heights homes are on city water, but if you own an acreage or a cabin elsewhere in the county, Polk County Environmental Health Services offers free drinking-well water testing to private well users in the county, in conjunction with the Iowa DNR. It covers coliform bacteria, E. coli, nitrate, arsenic and manganese. Our guide to free well water testing in Iowa walks through the steps, and our well water setup starts at $3,450.
We are licensed and insured. Our softeners are built from NSF/ANSI 44 certified components and our reverse osmosis systems are certified to NSF/ANSI 58. Our pricing is published and all-in, and in a town where the water is already softened at the plant, we would rather tell you that you don't need a system than sell you one you won't notice.
We come to your kitchen sink and measure hardness, iron and total dissolved solids (TDS), then hand you the readings and a written quote at no charge. If the right answer is a softener, reverse osmosis, both or nothing, that's what you'll hear. Request your free in-home water test or get an instant quote.
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From Des Moines Water Works. The 2026 Central Iowa Water Works / DMWW water quality report lists Windsor Heights among the communities DMWW supplies, and DMWW handles customer service. DMWW, PWSID IA7727031, serves 246,055 people (EPA SDWIS).
Yes, on paper. EPA's record shows Windsor Heights Water Dept., PWSID IA7791027, serving 4,891 people, deactivated on 3 July 1989. Its only source on file was a connection buying water from Des Moines Water Works, which closed on 1 July 1989.
Yes, at the plant. The 2026 report describes softening, filtration and disinfection at DMWW's plants. DMWW says it strives to keep total hardness below 150 mg/L, about 8.76 grains per gallon. That is a goal, not a reading from your tap, and it sits in the U.S. Geological Survey's hard band of 121 to 180 mg/L.
Not necessarily. Because DMWW already softens, the answer depends on your tap and on what bothers you. Our free in-home test measures hardness, iron and total dissolved solids, 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. 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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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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