Ankeny Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Ankeny, Iowa, in Polk County north of Des Moines — one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States in the 2010s–2020s, a major Des Moines suburb that was largely farmland as recently as 2000 and is now a thriving tech and residential hub — draws its municipal water supply from the Des Moines River and Raccoon River via the Des Moines Water Works (DMWW), distributed to Ankeny through the City of Ankeny Utilities Water Division. Water hardness in Ankeny measures 295 mg/L — classified as very hard.

Ankeny's very hard supply reflects the Des Moines River basin's calcareous Iowa geology. The Des Moines River above Des Moines–Ankeny drains: the Iowa Des Moines Lobe calcareous glacial till (the most recent Wisconsin Age glacial advance — Des Moines Lobe till is calcareous-rich from the Great Lakes limestone terrain transported southward, the most calcareous glacial till in Iowa); the Mississippian Burlington and Keokuk Limestones (calcareous marine limestone of central Iowa — exposed in river valley cut-banks); and the Pennsylvanian calcareous sandstone and shale of the Des Moines area. The Des Moines Lobe calcareous till recharge produces the very hard Iowa river water, consistently ranking Des Moines–area supplies among the hardest in the Midwest.

At 295 mg/L, Ankeny residents face significant hard water challenges. Scale deposits form rapidly on all fixtures and tile — monthly descaling with citric acid solution is essential maintenance. City of Ankeny Utilities Water Division consistently delivers water meeting all Iowa DNR and EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.