Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines Water Quality
Two farm-country rivers feed the city. The latest report meets every standard, but nitrate runs close to the limit and is the number to watch.
Raccoon + Des Moines rivers · nitrate up to 9.17 ppm (limit 10) · TTHM 56 ppb · lead 90th pct ND · PFBA 2.6 ppt.
The short answer
Des Moines drinks Raccoon and Des Moines River water, treated at three Des Moines Water Works plants. The utility reports its water met every state and federal standard in 2025.
The figure to watch is nitrate: treated water from the main Fleur Drive plant reached 9.17 ppm against a 10 ppm limit, held down by blending and ion-exchange nitrate removal. Disinfection byproducts were 56 ppb in Des Moines, and lead was not detected at the 90th percentile.
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Tell us your Des Moines address. We confirm coverage first, then schedule a licensed technician to test at your tap — no charge, no obligation.
What filtration does — and does not
River water in farm country means nitrate, disinfection byproducts and chlorine taste are the questions.
Where Des Moines water comes from
Sources, plants and service area named in Des Moines Water Works' latest report.
Raccoon and Des Moines rivers
Des Moines Water Works draws from the two rivers, an infiltration gallery beside the Raccoon River, riverbank wells, and Maffitt Reservoir and Crystal Lake for blending. It rates all four surface sources as highly susceptible to contamination.
Three treatment plants
Fleur Drive (up to 75 million gallons a day) serves most of the city; L.D. McMullen (25 million) serves southern Des Moines and parts of the western and southern suburbs; Saylorville (10 million) uses ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis north of the city.
600,000 central Iowans
Des Moines Water Works operates the plants for Central Iowa Water Works, which serves about 600,000 people across the metro.
What the 2025 data actually says
Limits are fixed. Results are plant and system figures from the utility's tables, not a reading at your tap.
Nitrate: up to 9.17 ppm
Nitrate in treated water from Fleur Drive reached 9.17 mg/L (range 2.59–9.17) and from McMullen 9.04, against a 10 mg/L limit. Saylorville peaked at 4.82.
Nitrate removal since 1992
The utility blends sources and, when needed, removes nitrate by ion exchange. It reports treated water has not exceeded 10 ppm since nitrate removal began in 1992.
TTHM: 56 ppb in Des Moines
In the Des Moines distribution system, total trihalomethanes were 56 ppb (range 41–77) against an 80 ppb limit, and haloacetic acids 11 ppb (range 9–17).
Lead: not detected at the 90th percentile
Des Moines' most recent lead round (2024) had a 90th percentile of ND, with results from ND to 21 ppb; one sample was over the 15 ppb action level.
PFAS: one compound, trace
PFBA was found at up to 2.6 parts per trillion in Fleur Drive water and not detected at the other plants. There is no drinking water standard for PFBA.
Sodium and fluoride
Sodium reached 53.38 mg/L in Fleur Drive water. Fluoride ranged up to 0.80 mg/L at Fleur Drive, well under the 4 mg/L limit.
Des Moines next to Kalamazoo and Allentown
Kalamazoo runs on deep groundwater, and its 2025 nitrate was 1.1 ppm. Des Moines treats river water that drains farmland, so its nitrate sits close to the 10 ppm limit and its byproducts are higher.
In eastern Pennsylvania, Allentown also reports nitrate worth noticing, at 4.96 ppm, from springs and streams. If nitrate matters in your household, both reports are worth reading side by side with a tap test.
Where these figures come from
Everything on this page traces to Des Moines Water Works' 2026 Drinking Water Quality Report, which presents 2025 results.
- Des Moines Water Works — Water Quality Reports (2026 Consumer Confidence Report)
- Lead and copper figures for Des Moines are from the most recent round listed in the report (2024).
Matching treatment to the finding
Nitrate, disinfection byproducts and household plumbing are the usual reasons Des Moines homeowners add treatment.
Reverse osmosis for nitrate
Under-sink reverse osmosis reduces nitrate at the drinking tap. It is the usual choice for households preparing infant formula when river nitrate runs high.
Carbon for byproducts and taste
Activated carbon reduces trihalomethanes and chlorine taste. Whole-house carbon covers showers as well as the kitchen tap.
Check your service line
Lead comes from private service lines and household plumbing, not the river. A tap test answers what is in your own pipes.
Softening is a house-by-house call
The plants soften as part of treatment. Whether your home also needs a softener is something a tap test settles, not a city average.
How the free test works
A licensed technician tests at your kitchen tap, walks the plumbing, and tells you which of the findings above applies to your house and which does not. There is no charge and no obligation.
Seamless Home is the licensed contractor of record on the work that follows. Installation is performed by vetted installing partners engaged as our subcontractors, and the workmanship obligation stays with us. Coverage is confirmed per service area rather than promised as blanket availability.
What a water treatment job with us covers
Installation and replacement of whole-home and point-of-use treatment, specified against what your water actually contains.
Sediment filtration
Installation of the first stage that protects everything downstream of it, sized to the service line and the household draw.
Softening
Installation of ion-exchange softening where hardness is the problem, including the drain connection the plumbing code treats as indirect waste.
Carbon filtration
Installation of carbon stages for taste, odour and disinfection by-products, specified from your utility's own water quality report.
Reverse osmosis
Point-of-use installation at the kitchen sink where the target is dissolved solids rather than whole-home flow.
Disinfection
Installation of UV or equivalent treatment where the supply is a private well or is otherwise not continuously disinfected.
System replacement
Replacing equipment that has reached the end of its service life, including the discharge and air gap details an inspector looks at.
This is installation and replacement work, specified from a published water quality report or a test of your supply — not from a sales chart. Coverage is confirmed per service area rather than promised as blanket availability.
What the work actually looks like
Treatment equipment is plumbing. Most of the job is the connection, the drain and the code detail behind it.
Des Moines water, answered plainly
Where does Des Moines get its water?+
From the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers, an infiltration gallery beside the Raccoon River and riverbank wells, with Maffitt Reservoir and Crystal Lake available for blending. Des Moines Water Works treats it at three plants.
Is nitrate a problem in Des Moines water?+
The rivers often carry high nitrate from upstream land use. Treated water from Fleur Drive reached 9.17 mg/L in 2025, under the 10 mg/L limit, and the utility says it has stayed under 10 since it began nitrate removal in 1992. Nitrate above 10 ppm is a health risk for infants under six months, so ask your provider if you prepare formula.
Is Des Moines water safe to drink?+
Des Moines Water Works reports that its water met all state and federal drinking water standards.
Does Des Moines water have PFAS?+
The report lists one PFAS compound, PFBA, at up to 2.6 parts per trillion in Fleur Drive water and not detected at the other two plants. PFBA has no drinking water standard.
What about lead?+
In Des Moines' most recent round (2024), the 90th percentile was not detected, with one sample over the 15 ppb action level. Lead comes from private service lines and home plumbing; the utility suggests flushing a tap that has sat for hours.
Where do these figures come from?+
From Des Moines Water Works' 2026 Drinking Water Quality Report, which covers 2025 results. Third-party aggregators are not used.
Related resources
Home water purification and treatment
The national service page behind this one.
Learn more →Kalamazoo water quality
All-groundwater supply with low arsenic and lead lines being replaced.
Learn more →Allentown water quality
Springs and streams, with nitrate at 4.96 ppm.
Learn more →Home battery backup in Omaha, NE
OPPD rates and the July 2024 storm outage.
Learn more →All home services
Water, battery, HVAC and solar under one licensed contractor of record.
Learn more →Get a free test at your tap
A licensed technician tests at your kitchen tap and tells you which findings apply to your house — nitrate, disinfection byproducts, or your own plumbing. No charge, no obligation, and coverage confirmed at your address first.
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