Hi there, your free Hiawatha water report

Hiawatha Water Department · Cedar River alluvial wells (groundwater). Your water meets federal legal limits — but those limits haven't been updated in nearly 20 years.

⚠ PFAS DETECTED

Perfluorohexane sulfonate (a 'forever chemical') at 1,980x the health-based guideline. The EPA set its first-ever national PFAS limits in 2024 — reverse osmosis is one of the few proven ways to reduce it.

Above health guidelines

1,980x

PFAS (PFHxS) vs. guideline

82x

TTHMs vs. guideline

Bottom line: 11 contaminants came back above the latest health guidelines — led by PFAS 'forever chemicals', farm-runoff nitrate and chlorination byproducts. The good news: the right system reduces all of them.

Detected above health-based guidelines

Level found vs. a non-enforceable, health-based guideline. Detection data comes from public Iowa DNR & U.S. EPA testing records (2021–2023); health guidelines are drawn from state public-health authorities (such as California's OEHHA) and peer-reviewed research, and are far stricter than federal legal limits. Water that exceeds a health guideline can still meet all legal standards.

Perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS, a PFAS) · PFAS 'forever chemical'

1.98 ppt detected · guideline 0.001 ppt · legal limit 10 ppt

1,980x

Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) · disinfection byproduct

12.2 ppb detected · guideline 0.15 ppb · legal limit 80 ppb

82x

Bromodichloromethane · disinfection byproduct

4.07 ppb detected · guideline 0.06 ppb · no legal limit

68x

Dibromoacetic acid · disinfection byproduct

2 ppb detected · guideline 0.03 ppb · no legal limit

67x

Haloacetic acids (HAA5) · disinfection byproduct

4 ppb detected · guideline 0.1 ppb · legal limit 60 ppb

40x

+ 6 more · Dibromochloromethane, Nitrate, Dichloroacetic acid, Chloroform…

3.3–38x

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Based on publicly available drinking-water testing data from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (detections 2021–2023; radiologicals 2018–2023). Levels are utility-wide annual averages and meet federal legal limits; 'health-based guideline' refers to non-enforceable health goals set by federal or state public-health authorities. Informational only — not a medical or safety determination. Your home's water, especially on a private well, may differ; a free in-home test measures your actual water.