Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines Water Works 2026 Consumer Confidence Report (2025 testing). Hardness is not printed. Chlorine running annual average 1.20 mg/L (range 0.27–2.18) on the Des Moines distribution row. No Measure S-style residential softener ban turned up.
- Chlorine1.20 mg/L RAA (range 0.27–2.18)
- TTHMs56 µg/L (range 41–77)
- HAA511 µg/L (range 9–17)
Best match for Des Moines
Whole-house carbon for chlorine
No district prohibition on a brine drain turned up in the current file.
That is chlorine. A whole-house carbon filter with an NSF/ANSI 42 chlorine claim is the usual match. A softener will not take chlorine out.
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Other options that still fit
Confirm hardness on the current CCR before buying
Open the current CCR for grains. This file does not invent a number from a ranking site. A salt softener needs a drain if it is legal at the address.
Shop salt-based softenersShop salt-free conditionersShop water test kits
Under-sink reverse osmosis
The under-sink RO we actually run is Cloud RO — NSF/ANSI 58, kitchen tap, not a whole-house tank. Check the exact listing if PFAS is why you are shopping. Shop Amazon first for under-sink RO, or buy Cloud direct. Waterdrop is a tankless option if you want that path. A certifier-listed pitcher is the cheap first step. Nobody is paying for a medical claim.
Shop under-sink reverse osmosisBuy Cloud RO directShop Waterdrop reverse osmosisShop PFAS-listed pitchers
Test the tap first
A homeowner kit is a start. It is not a state-certified lab. Use a certified lab when the decision is expensive.
On the report
- Water utility
- Des Moines Water Works
- Hardness
- Not printed on the official 2026 CCR distribution or plant tables we opened. Unknown — no hardness bar invented from neighboring-city rows. — Des Moines Water Works 2026 Consumer Confidence Report (hardness not printed)
- Disinfectant
- Des Moines* distribution row. Chlorine disinfectant running annual average 1.20 mg/L (range 0.27–2.18). Maximum limit for annual average 4 mg/L. Chlorine, not chloramine. That row is the Des Moines system, including water supplied to Alleman, Berwick, Cumming, Pleasant Hill, unincorporated Polk County, and Windsor Heights — not Ankeny or Waukee numbers. — Des Moines Water Works 2026 Consumer Confidence Report
- Brine / salt to the sewer
- No district prohibition found in current research. Searched Des Moines Water Works and City of Des Moines sewer pages for a residential self-regenerating softener or brine-drain ban like LACSD Measure S. None turned up. Ask the sewer agency on the bill before you cut a brine drain.
Also around here
Extra context besides the utility report and the chart above — geology, an unregulated table, or a published study. Not a second set of printed tap numbers.
- MicroplasticsWHO’s 2019 review examined studies that found microplastic particles in treated tap and bottled water in many places. That is a published-occurrence finding, not a number from this city’s water-quality report, and we do not invent a particles-per-liter count for the tap.Microplastics in drinking-water — World Health Organization
- NitrateSame 2026 plant tables. Fleur Drive nitrate as N 5.90 mg/L (1.05–5.90). McMullen 9.17 mg/L (2.59–9.17). Those are plant columns — not a blended tap number.Fleur Drive 5.90 mg/L (1.05–5.90). McMullen 9.17 mg/L (2.59–9.17).2026 Consumer Confidence Report — Des Moines Water Works
Des Moines drinking water is Des Moines Water Works / Central Iowa Water Works from the Fleur Drive, McMullen, and Saylorville plants. No City of Des Moines residential softener ban like LACSD Measure S turned up. Ask the sewer agency on the bill before you cut a brine drain. This is not a legal opinion.
The 2026 CCR does not print a hardness row. We do not invent one from other cities on the wholesale table. Des Moines distribution chlorine 1.20 mg/L RAA (0.27–2.18). TTHMs 56 µg/L (41–77). HAA5 11 µg/L (9–17). Kitchen shopping stays the Cloud RO / Waterdrop path already used on other cities if a listing is why you are looking.
Sources
- 2026 Consumer Confidence Report — Des Moines Water Works. Accessed 2026-09-10.
Updated September 10, 2026. A city file is chemistry we can cite plus the sewer rule. No invented detections.