Is Altoona, IA tap water safe?
The short answer
2 of the 4 utilities serving Altoona have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Iowa’s records: Des Moines Water Works and Altoona Water Supply.
Des Moines Water Works, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 28 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.
A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Altoona’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
Des Moines Water Works
Iowa · serves 246,055 people · about 4,800 in Altoona
1 result above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 28 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark.
1 health-based violation since 2016
- Open report
Altoona Water Supply
Iowa · serves 22,436 people · about 4,300 in Altoona
2 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 250 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark.
1 health-based violation since 2016
- Open report
Midwest Country Estates
Iowa · serves 820 people · under 100 in Altoona
Nothing in its records is above a health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Southeast Polk RWD
Iowa · serves 7,565 people · lists Altoona among the places it serves
1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 17 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark.
No health-based violations since 2016
Water testing near Altoona
The 3 labs Iowa certifies closest to Altoona, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
State Hygienic Laboratory - Ankeny
Ankeny, IA · about 11 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics
Microbac Laboratories - Newton
Newton, IA · about 22 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts
AgSource
Ellsworth, IA · about 48 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, metals, minerals and other inorganics
State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa: Through the Grants-to-Counties program, private well owners in participating counties can have their water tested for total coliform bacteria and nitrate. Start with the county sanitarian at your county health department. No cost in a participating county. The Grants-to-Counties Program, State Hygienic Lab at the University of Iowa.
All 36 certified labs for IowaZIP codes in Altoona
Which ZIP codes are in Altoona: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: Iowa DNR, laboratories certified for drinking water; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.
Near Altoona
Other towns in Polk County with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read Des Moines Water Works’s full reportEvery result with its dates, the violations, and the certification claim that handles each finding.Open the report
- About LithiumWhat it does to health, where it comes from, and the certification claim that addresses it.About Lithium
- On a private well?No utility tests a well. A certified lab test is the first step.How to test well water