Des Moines County, Iowa: drinking water report. Des Moines County in southeastern Iowa has about 39,000 residents, with Burlington as the county seat.
Des Moines County in southeastern Iowa has about 39,000 residents, with Burlington as the county seat. The Mississippi River and groundwater wells supply the area. The former Iowa Army Ammunition Plant – a 19,000-acre facility that manufactured explosives and propellants – dominates the environmental story. The plant operated from WWII through the 1990s and left extensive contamination.
The Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (now Middletown) has documented groundwater contamination from explosives residues (RDX, HMX, TNT), chlorinated solvents, and PFAS from firefighting foam. According to the Army's 2024 environmental status report, RDX concentrations in groundwater near the former production areas exceed the health advisory level of 2 ppb. PFAS from AFFF use shows PFOS at 45 ppt in base monitoring wells.
The contamination plume extends beyond the facility boundary. Iowa DNR's 2024 investigation documented PFAS at 18 ppt in private wells within one mile of the plant's eastern boundary. Agricultural nitrate from the surrounding farmland adds to the county's groundwater burden.
Des Moines County residents near the former ammunition plant face a multi-contaminant exposure scenario. The Army has been conducting residential well testing, but if you are within two miles of the facility boundary and have not been sampled, request testing.
Check your water for available data. For explosives residues, solvents, and PFAS together, reverse osmosis provides the broadest household protection. Our water filter guide covers systems rated for military-related contamination. Pull your detailed report for local data, and visit our Iowa page for statewide patterns.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Des Moines County, IA.
The EPA places Des Moines County, IA in Zone 1 - the EPA's highest-risk category, where the predicted average indoor radon level is above 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
75% of homes in Des Moines County, IA were built before 1980, and 42% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Des Moines County, IA averages 8 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide