Is Cedar Falls, IA tap water safe?
The short answer
Neither of the 2 utilities serving Cedar Falls has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Iowa’s records.
Cedar Falls Municipal Water Utilities, which serves the most people here, has 3 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 15.2 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 Cedar Falls’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
Cedar Falls Municipal Water Utilities
Iowa · serves 40,713 people · about 8,700 in Cedar Falls
3 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 15.2 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Cedar Falls Mobile Home Village
Iowa · serves 388 people · lists Cedar Falls among the places it serves
1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 1.2 ppb, above the health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
What handles it
Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in Cedar Falls Municipal Water Utilities’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.
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Countertop reverse osmosis
- IAPMO listing:NSF/ANSI 42NSF/ANSI 53NSF/ANSI 58NSF/ANSI 401checked Oct. 4, 2026
Certified for: Nitrate, Lead, Arsenic
Aquasana SmartFlow Reverse Osmosis (AQ-SFRO2)
Under-sink reverse osmosis
- WQA listing:NSF/ANSI 42NSF/ANSI 53NSF/ANSI 58NSF/ANSI 401checked Oct. 9, 2026
Certified for: Nitrate, Lead, Arsenic
Culligan 10-Cup Pitcher with ZeroWater Technology (ZEROP10)
Pitcher
- IAPMO listing:NSF/ANSI 42NSF/ANSI 53NSF/ANSI 401checked Oct. 9, 2026
Certified for: Nitrate, Lead
Water testing near Cedar Falls
The 3 labs Iowa certifies closest to Cedar Falls, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Eurofins - Cedar Falls
Cedar Falls, IA · under a mile
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics
Microbac Laboratories - Waterloo
Waterloo, IA · about 11 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate
AgSource
Ellsworth, IA · about 56 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 Cedar Falls
Which ZIP codes are in Cedar Falls: 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 Cedar Falls
Towns nearby with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read Cedar Falls Municipal Water Utilities’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