# Iowa Water Filtration Co.

_Whole-home filtration, water softeners and reverse osmosis across the Des Moines, Iowa metro._

Iowa Water Filtration Co. · Des Moines metro · Published 30 October 2026 · Reviewed 30 October 2026

Canonical: https://iowawaterfiltration.com/

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## What we do

Iowa Water Filtration Co. installs whole-home carbon filtration, ion exchange water
softeners and under-sink reverse osmosis systems across the Des Moines metro. Service
area business, no showroom. Installations are performed by licensed Iowa plumbing
contractors. The water test is free and carries no obligation.

Service area: Des Moines, West Des Moines, Ankeny, Urbandale, Waukee, Johnston, Clive,
Norwalk, Polk City, Grimes, and the surrounding Polk, Dallas and Warren county communities.

## The central Iowa water situation

Central Iowa Water Works became the region's wholesale water authority on 1 January 2025,
with twelve founding members serving more than 600,000 Iowans. Its two source rivers, the
Raccoon and the Des Moines, carry a seasonal nitrate load that approaches and exceeds the
EPA maximum contaminant level of 10 mg/L before treatment.

Between 16 June and 30 July 2025 the utility published 43 daily nitrate readings for both
rivers during its Stage 3 water warning. Both rivers measured above 10 mg/L on 33 of those
days, and the Raccoon peaked at 16.04 mg/L on 2 July 2025. Source:
https://www.ciww.gov/news-1/stage-iii-daily-updates

Mandatory lawn watering bans followed on 12 June 2025 and again on 8 June 2026. The
nitrate removal facility at the Fleur Drive plant ran in January 2026 for the first time
since 2015, and had logged 107 operating days by 1 May 2026.

Central Iowa hardness is generally reported between 7 and 9 grains per gallon. The City of
Waukee publishes an average of 7.5 to 8.5 grains per gallon on its own water quality page.

## Which system solves which problem

| Problem | System | Where it goes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hardness, scale, appliance wear | Ion exchange water softener | Point of entry |
| Nitrate, dissolved solids | Reverse osmosis | Point of use, kitchen sink |
| Chlorine taste and odor, sediment, VOCs | Carbon filtration | Point of entry |

A water softener does not reduce nitrate. Carbon filtration does not reduce nitrate or
hardness. Boiling concentrates nitrate and makes it worse.


## Questions

**Is Des Moines tap water safe to drink?**

Yes. Water delivered by Central Iowa Water Works member utilities is treated to meet federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards, nitrate included, and the utility says so publicly every time this comes up. The reason it keeps making news is that staying under the limit has gotten expensive and difficult. They ran a dedicated nitrate removal facility starting 6 January 2026, which had not happened in January since 2015, and they ordered mandatory watering bans in June 2025 and again in June 2026. Safe when it leaves the plant and ideal at your kitchen tap are two different bars. Home treatment is about the second one.

**How hard is the water in the Des Moines metro?**

Published figures for central Iowa generally land between 7 and 9 grains per gallon, which is hard water by any classification. The City of Waukee puts an average of 7.5 to 8.5 grains per gallon on its own water quality page, which is the figure I would start from if you are out that direction. Your real number depends on which utility serves you and what time of year it is, so I would test it instead of assuming.

**Will a water softener remove nitrate?**

No. A standard ion exchange softener pulls calcium and magnesium, which is hardness, and it does not meaningfully touch nitrate. Reverse osmosis is the household method for nitrate in drinking and cooking water. If a quote treats a softener as your nitrate fix, that quote has two unrelated problems stapled together.

**Do I need a whole-home system or just one at the sink?**

Depends which problem you are solving. Hardness hits every fixture and every appliance, so you treat it where the water comes into the house. Nitrate and dissolved solids matter most in what goes in a glass, so you treat those at the tap. Plenty of metro homes end up with a softener and an under-sink RO unit and no whole-home carbon filter at all, and they are fine.

**What does water filtration cost in Des Moines?**

A typical whole-home install in this market runs in the low thousands. An under-sink reverse osmosis system is a fraction of that. The spread is wide because sizing depends on your hardness, your household size and what your plumbing looks like, so I am not going to pretend there is one price. We quote a fixed number in writing after the test, and we do not run expiring same-day pricing.

**Who actually performs the installation?**

Licensed Iowa plumbing contractors. Plumbing work in Iowa falls under the Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board, and a plumbing contractor has to hold a master license or employ a licensed master plumber as its master of record. Permits get pulled where the municipality requires them.