The Iowa Department of Natural Resources 2023 Annual Compliance Report, which came out in June 2024, lists violations of the public water system.
Most of the reports are about violations of tracking and disclosure. The Iowa DNR is in charge of these kinds of water systems.
CWS – There is a public water system that serves the same people all year.
NTNC – NTNC stands for “Non Transient Water System.” A public water system that gives water to at least 25 of the same people every day for at least six months a year. Some places that have their own water systems are hospitals, schools, workplaces, and office buildings.
TNC – TNC stands for “Transient Non-Community Water System.” a public water system that gives people water in a place where they don’t stay for long, like a gas station or camping.
Go to iowadnr.gov to get a full copy of the Iowa Drinking Water Annual Compliance report.
Inspection results
“Highlights of the 2023 Report Iowa had 1,834 public water supply (PWS) systems, which is a little less than in 2022. In 2023, 97.2% of systems met all health-based standards, and 99.5% of people who were covered by systems that met all health-based standards were satisfied with those systems.
20 percent of systems have monitoring and reporting violations
“Most of the systems that were monitored and reported on met the major goals.” 92.4% of the people who were served by systems that met the main standards for monitoring and reporting did so.
Violations
“97.2% of the 1,834 regulated PWS met standards for drinking water that are based on health.”
When it came to health-based drinking water standards, maximum residual disinfectant level, treatment method, or action level, 52 PWSs broke 97 of them.
“In 2023, nine regulated contaminants were found at levels that were higher than the health-based standards. Also, five treatment techniques were not met.” The following page has a chart that lists the standards and the amount of health-based standard violations that each of them caused.
Health impacts
“In 2023, no diseases or deaths from water were linked to Iowa PWSs.” More than 3.05 million of the nearly 3.07 million people that Iowa’s PWSs serve regularly got their water from systems that met all health-based drinking water guidelines.
Nitrates are top contaminants
392 of the health-based standards that were broken were related to nitrates. More important health news
Not following through with start-up steps 24.7%
8.25 percent arsenic
7.2% E. coli
Monitoring violations
In 2023, 596 big monitoring violations happened at 251 systems. Three hundred eighty-eight computers broke the rules at least once, adding up to 356 violations.
Track your water system
Find DNR reports on every Iowa public water system online at programs.iowadnr.gov/sourcewater