Iowa tap water
1 of 145 Iowa water systems with full PFAS testing (1%) averaged above a 2024 federal PFAS level at one or more sampling points.
- 1,082 active community water systems in the EPA file; 129 serve 3,300+ people and have a full PFAS set.
- 46 systems had at least one health-based violation since 2021-10-26.
- 3 systems report a lead 90th percentile above 15 ppb (some results are old; check each system page).
Largest systems
| System | People served | PFAS above a 2024 level? | Health-based violations since 2021-10-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Des Moines Water Works | 246,055 | No | 0 |
| Cedar Rapids Water department | 142,364 | No | 0 |
| Sioux City Water Supply | 85,791 | Yes, at one or more sampling points | 0 |
| Ankeny, City of | 76,207 | No | 0 |
| West Des Moines Water Works | 73,959 | No | 0 |
| Waterloo Water Works | 69,504 | No | 0 |
| Council Bluffs Water Works | 64,447 | No | 0 |
| Dubuque Water Works | 59,667 | No | 0 |
Counties
All 13 utilities with a page in Iowa
- Ames Water Treatment Plant 55,177
- Ankeny, City of 76,207
- Cedar Rapids Water department 142,364
- Council Bluffs Water Works 64,447
- Des Moines Water Works 246,055
- Dubuque Water Works 59,667
- Isu 42,000
- Marion Municipal Water dept 41,623
- Sioux City Water Supply 85,791
- University Water System 47,136
- Urbandale Water Utility 45,605
- Waterloo Water Works 69,504
- West Des Moines Water Works 73,959
Why not "the state's water quality"? You drink from one utility, not a state. Rollups count systems, not people, so one large utility counts the same as a small one. Use the system pages for your actual water.
Not medical or legal advice. UCMR 5 results are screening data, not compliance determinations.
Sources and freshness
Public-water-system facts, violations and lead/copper results: EPA ECHO SDWA download (SDWIS snapshot 2026-10-13). PFAS and lithium results: EPA UCMR 5 final data (sampling 2023–2025). Both are U.S. government works, downloaded 2026-10-26. Numbers are computed by the published method; the same fields are in the open data files.