Common Iowa water problems, and what fixes them

Stains and colour

• Orange or rust stains — iron
• Black or grey stains — manganese
• Blue-green stains — acidic water and copper
• Yellow or tea-coloured water — tannins
• Cloudy or milky water — air or sediment

Taste and smell

• Rotten-egg smell — hydrogen sulfide
• Only the hot water smells — the water heater anode rod
• Chlorine taste — disinfection
• Sulfur smell in Vinton — a named local example

Hard water

• Is Iowa water hard? — the statewide answer
• Hardness by city — the full table
• Limescale on appliances — scale
• Signs you need a softener — how to tell

What testing finds

• Nitrate — farm runoff
• The spring nitrate spike — seasonal timing
• PFAS — forever chemicals
• Radium — a named local example
• Copper — a named local example
• Total dissolved solids — what TDS means

Well water

• Bacteria in a well — coliform
• Iron and sulfur together — the common well pair
• Well water after flooding — what to do first
• How to test a well — the guide
• Free well testing in Iowa — the grants program