Urbandale does not treat its own water. Here is where it actually comes from, what the latest testing found, and what an under-sink system changes.
A lot of Urbandale homeowners assume the city has its own wells. It does not, and it never has.
Urbandale Water Utility (public water supply ID IA7780042, serving roughly 45,600 people) owns no treatment plant and no wells. The Iowa DNR classifies its source water type as "Purchased Surface Water", and its well record reads "No Well Information Found." Urbandale has purchased all of its water since 1934. Today it buys from Central Iowa Water Works, the regional water production authority established in 2024, with Des Moines Water Works operating the treatment plants under contract.
Treats up to 75 million gallons a day drawn from the Raccoon River, the Des Moines River, or the Water Works Park infiltration gallery. It serves most of Urbandale.
Treats up to 25 million gallons a day from six radial collector wells and one horizontal well set in the sand and gravel beneath the Raccoon River. It serves parts of Urbandale, Clive and West Des Moines.
Those collector wells sit in riverbed gravel, so even the "well" side of Urbandale's supply is filtered river water, not a deep protected aquifer. The Iowa DNR rates the Raccoon River, the Des Moines River and the alluvial aquifer feeding these plants as "High" susceptibility to surface contamination.
Every number below is from the 2026 Drinking Water Quality Report covering 2025 data, published by Central Iowa Water Works and Des Moines Water Works.
mg/L peak nitrate at the Fleur Drive plant in 2025, against a federal limit of 10. The McMullen plant peaked at 9.04.
2026 Water Quality Report ↗µg/L highest single trihalomethane sample in Urbandale's distribution system. The annual average was 70, against a limit of 80.
2026 Water Quality Report ↗running that Urbandale has been named in an emergency regional ban on lawn watering, both driven by nitrate in the source rivers.
CIWW Stage III, Jun 2026 ↗| Urbandale distribution system | Result | Range | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) | 70 µg/L | 51 to 99 | 80 µg/L |
| Haloacetic acids (HAA5) | 9 µg/L | 6 to 11 | 60 µg/L |
| Chlorine (annual average) | 0.80 mg/L | 0.35 to 1.36 | 4 mg/L |
| Lead, 90th percentile (2024) | Non-detect | ND to 44 µg/L | 15 µg/L action level |
Urbandale's water met every federal standard in 2025. We are not going to tell you otherwise. But two things in that table are worth understanding.
First, trihalomethanes. These form when chlorine reacts with organic matter in river water, so they are a direct consequence of Urbandale drinking treated surface water rather than groundwater. An annual average of 70 against a limit of 80 is compliant, and it is also one of the higher readings in the regional system. Individual Urbandale samples reached 99.
Second, lead. The 90th-percentile result was non-detect, which means Urbandale does not have a system-wide lead problem. One sampled home came back at 44 µg/L. That is exactly how lead behaves: it does not ride in from the treatment plant, it comes from the plumbing and fixtures inside one specific house. Which is also why the fix belongs at the tap rather than at the plant.
Urbandale's water is disinfected with free chlorine, not chloramine. Chloramine shows up in some fringe systems around the metro such as Bondurant, Warren and Xenia. Worth knowing, because the two behave differently in a filter.
The first Stage III ban in the region's history. All residential and commercial lawn watering stopped. Nitrate in the Raccoon River hit 14.39 mg/L and the Des Moines River 14.04 mg/L on the day it was issued. Restrictions ran into late July.
CIWW Stage III updates ↗It happened again. Central Iowa Water Works issued a second mandatory ban on June 8, stating the system was "operating at the limits of its available treatment resources." The Water Works Park infiltration gallery hit 12.3 mg/L and stayed above 10 for roughly 90 days, a record.
Iowa Public Radio, Jun 2026 ↗Those restrictions were not about running out of water. They were about protecting the utility's ability to strip nitrate out fast enough to stay under the legal limit. Cutting lawn watering lowers total demand so the nitrate removal system can keep pace. Iowa has the second-highest cancer incidence rate in the country and the fastest growing, and researchers have linked long-term nitrate exposure in drinking water to several of those cancers. The tap water met the standard both summers. The margin is what changed.
About 34% of Urbandale's housing stock predates 1980, while 38% went up in 2000 or later. The median home was built in 1992. On the older east side, interior plumbing and fixtures are worth thinking about. Newer builds out west are a different conversation entirely.
Urbandale spans Polk and Dallas counties, and the Dallas County side grew 86% between 2010 and 2020. 2025 was a record year: 1,552 building permits and 646 new dwelling units. Newer kitchens out west almost always mean granite or quartz, which is why we drill natural stone in house rather than sending you to a countertop shop.
78% of Urbandale households own their home, well above the metro average. That matters practically: an under-sink RO system is a permanent improvement, and it makes sense when you are the one staying. Median home value sits around $335,500.
Reverse osmosis is the one household filter that meaningfully reduces nitrate. Pitchers and fridge filters do not.
We install the iSpring RCC7AK 7-stage system under your kitchen sink with its own dedicated faucet. Installation takes one to two hours. Pricing is $699, $849 or $1,099 fully installed depending on configuration, with no separate plumber charge.
Prime Flow does point-of-use drinking water only. We do not sell whole-house systems or softeners, and we will tell you plainly if your situation does not call for anything.
Free in-home water test, no obligation. We test your actual kitchen tap, show you the numbers, and tell you honestly whether a system is worth it.