Short answer: No measured result is above a legal limit; lithium sits above a screening level. Des Moines Water Works serves 246,055 residents.
EPA lists this system for the city. Your water bill or annual water quality report names your actual supplier.
Source: EPA SDWIS 2026Q2.
DES MOINES WATER WORKS (EPA PWSID IA7727031) delivers surface water to 246,055 residents. This report reflects 29 individual PFAS result(s) from the source UCMR5 observations and the latest Lead & Copper Rule 90th-percentile result. Water hardness and disinfectant type are pending the utility's own annual report.
1health-based violation in the last 10 years
From EPA SDWIS. Counted once per contaminant per year, as in the Track record score.
No result is not a pass. Your utility's annual water quality report may list them, and a certified lab test covers your own tap.
Every filing is listed; the Track record score counts at most one per contaminant per year.
Resolved
to Resolved
Plumbing inside a home can add lead that the system record can't show. A tap test tells you what reaches your glass.
8,114 lead service lines; 10 galvanized lines to replace
Lithium 28 µg/L, above the 10.0 µg/L EPA health reference level
Screening tells you if something is worth a closer look; a lab result is the number you can act on.
As an Amazon Associate, PurityMap earns from qualifying purchases. Affiliate disclosure.
Screening: quick check, not lab-grade
Safe Home (EnviroTestKits)
Lead, read as one of three ranges: 0–4, 5–15 or 15+ ppb
What it can't tell you: It shows a lead range, not an exact level, and tests nothing else unless you pay extra for the optional lab test.
Lab-certified results
ETR Laboratories
50+ substances, including lead, copper, arsenic, nitrate, hardness and coliform bacteria
What it can't tell you: It does not test PFAS, and not every result on the panel falls under the lab's accredited scope.
Each card names which Des Moines findings its current certification covers, and which it doesn't.
As an Amazon Associate, PurityMap earns from qualifying purchases. A product appears here only when a current certification record covers at least one identified concern; every concern stays listed. The retail offer is looked up afterwards and never changes which products appear or their order. Affiliate disclosure.
PurityMap does not give a safe/unsafe verdict; it shows what the public records measured. For Des Moines, no regulated PFAS were detected in EPA's 2024 testing. DES MOINES WATER WORKS (PWSID IA7727031) has a Purity Score of 99/100 (confidence: moderate), assessed at the water-system level and computed only from contaminants that were measured. Water can change in your own pipes, so a certified test is the only way to know what comes out of your tap.
DES MOINES WATER WORKS (PWS ID IA7727031) is the public water system on record for Des Moines, Iowa, serving about 246,055 people. Confirm the utility on your water bill before acting on a specific finding.
Surface water (primary source of record in EPA SDWIS).
None of the 29 PFAS in EPA's UCMR 5 testing (2023-02-14 to 2023-11-14) was detected. "Not detected" means below the lab's reporting limit, not proven zero.
Lead is not in Des Moines's current published record. Lead usually enters from a building's own pipes and fixtures, so a certified home test is the way to know yours.
PurityMap's current record for Des Moines holds 31 findings: 1 above a reference and 30 not detected. Each finding links to its dated public record; a parameter that was never monitored is shown as pending, not as a pass.
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| Contaminant | Result | Benchmark | Sampled | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lithium | 28 µg/L | 10 µg/L EPA health reference level (screening, not a legal limit)Screening level, not a legal limit | 2023-04-10 to 2023-11-14 | UCMR5 Analytical Results: DES MOINES WATER WORKS (IA7727031) |
11-Chloroeicosafluoro-3-oxaundecane-1-sulfonic acid (11Cl-PF3OUdS)
1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorodecane sulfonic acid (8:2 FTS)
1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (4:2 FTS)
1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (6:2 FTS)
4,8-Dioxa-3H-perfluorononanoic acid (ADONA)
9-Chlorohexadecafluoro-3-oxanone-1-sulfonic acid (9Cl-PF3ONS)
Hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA) (GenX chemicals)
N-ethyl perfluorooctanesulfonamidoacetic acid (NEtFOSAA)
N-methyl perfluorooctanesulfonamidoacetic acid (NMeFOSAA)
Nonafluoro-3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid (NFDHA)
Perfluoro (2-ethoxyethane) sulfonic acid (PFEESA)
Perfluoro-3-methoxypropanoic acid (PFMPA)
Perfluoro-4-methoxybutanoic acid (PFMBA)
Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS)
Perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoA)
Perfluoroheptanesulfonic acid (PFHpS)
Perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA)
Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS)
Perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA)
Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)
Perfluoropentanesulfonic acid (PFPeS)
Perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA)
Perfluorotetradecanoic acid (PFTA)
Perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTrDA)
Perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnA)
Every value is the published result from the cited public record. A reporting limit is the lowest level the method could reliably quantify; a non-detect is not a guarantee of zero.
UCMR5 Analytical Results
UCMR5 Analytical Results: DES MOINES WATER WORKS (IA7727031)
US EPA
State SDWIS Compliance Record
Lead & Copper Rule 90th-percentile: DES MOINES WATER WORKS (IA7727031)
US EPA SDWIS
Methodology: how we analyze water. Prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by the PurityMap Editorial Team before publication.
Start with the hot-or-cold tap check. Where Des Moines Water Works reported something related, it's shown below.
Lead at Des Moines Water Works: not detected (90th percentile, 2022–2024 monitoring period). Lead has no taste, so a taste neither shows nor rules it out.