Aquatell

Iowa

The 8 hardness figures we’ve verified run from 7.1 to 22 grains per gallon, with a median of 12; 100% are hard or very hard.

How the 8 figures spread across the bands

  • Soft 0
  • Slightly hard 0
  • Moderately hard 0
  • Hard 4
  • Very hard 4
Hardness
12 gpg medianAverage 13 gpg (226 ppm), from 7.1 to 22. Each published figure counts once in the average, median and spread; a figure published as a range is shown as its range and isn't averaged.
Coverage
8 places8 listings as published
Disinfectant
3 of 5use chloramine; 2 use chlorine

Every place we have

Sources are each city’s water quality report or its utility. Gather the listings up by place or by the water system that serves them, or see every listing as published; open a group to see what’s in it.

8 places

On the scaleDisinfectantSourcesAsk Aqua
Sioux City
No source linked
  • The page it came from links no primary source for this figure.
 22 gpg378 ppm, very hard Chlorine Disinfectant
Iowa City
No source linked
  • The page it came from links no primary source for this figure.
 18 gpg305 ppm, very hard Chlorine Disinfectant
Waterloo
No source linked
  • The page it came from links no primary source for this figure.
 17 gpg297 ppm, very hard –
Davenport
No source linked
  • The page it came from links no primary source for this figure.
 14 gpg235 ppm, very hard Chloramine Disinfectant
Ames
No source linked
  • The page it came from links no primary source for this figure.
 9.6 gpg164 ppm, hard –
Council Bluffs
No source linked
  • The page it came from links no primary source for this figure.
 9.0 gpg156 ppm, hard –
Des Moines
No source linked
  • The page it came from links no primary source for this figure.
 9.0 gpg157 ppm, hard Chloramine Disinfectant
Cedar Rapids
No source linked
  • The page it came from links no primary source for this figure.
 7.1 gpg120 ppm, hard Chloramine Disinfectant

Missing your city? Aquatell researches cities on request from the utility’s own reports, usually within a week. A note on a figure says what we found when we checked it: units that didn’t agree, another page with a different figure, a range.

What to do about it

Hard water

Above about 3.5 grains per gallon, scale builds in water heaters, fixtures and appliances. A softener sized for your hardness and household removes it for the whole house.

Water softenersSizing a softener

Chlorine or chloramine

Standard carbon removes chlorine’s taste and smell. Chloramine lasts longer in the pipes and needs catalytic carbon to remove it.

Carbon and chloramine filters

Not sure what you need?

Aqua knows these figures and Aquatell’s treatment charts, and can size a system for your home.

Softeners for Iowa’s water

See them all