Cedar Falls Water Meets All Safe Drinking Water Standards
February 24, 2026
A Letter from CFU General Manager, Susan Abernathy
Cedar Falls Utilities is proud to provide our community with high-quality, low-cost water. Recently there have been news reports about rising nitrates in Iowa waterways. We want to assure you: CFU’s drinking water meets all federal and state water standards and achieves 100% compliance with all regulations.
As a public water utility, we value open, transparent conversations with our community. CFU’s mission is to provide safe, reliable and affordable service to our customers, and that includes delivering high-quality drinking water. It is important to me that people have all the facts about water quality, rather than assumptions or misinformation.
Unlike many communities that rely on water from rivers, Cedar Falls draws water from a deep underground aquifer. The aquifer provides clean and safe water. It also protects us from seasonal and environmental fluctuations that can impact nitrate levels in surface water sources like rivers. We routinely sample water throughout the system to verify compliance and protect public health. Our water has never exceeded the EPA’s nitrate safety standard.
We have received comments that our water is not safe based upon the results of home testing strips. These testing strips are unreliable. The only methods to accurately and specifically test nitrates are by certified testing equipment or by sending water samples to a certified water laboratory.
We have had good conversations with customers about water quality. Data from their independent tests confirms our water quality testing. Recently, an engaged citizen sent us six water sample test results where the water samples were taken from homes across Cedar Falls. These samples were sent to the state hygienic lab (not the home testing strips). The results of those six tests showed the following nitrate ppm levels: 0.59; 0.44; 0.43; 3.1; 3.7; 6.43.
EPA Regulations require that nitrate levels are at or below 10 ppm. Three of those samples were below 1; two are below 4 and one is below 7. This is representative and consistent with the water testing we do on our customers’ behalf every day!
CFU operates the water system to provide the cleanest, lowest nitrate water to our community. Wells with lower nitrate levels are generally operated as primary wells, while wells with more moderate nitrate levels are reserved for backup use or activated during times of extremely dry weather. In 2025, 87% of the total water volume produced averaged 1.9 ppm, with a maximum level of 3.3 ppm.
A few customers recently appeared at the Cedar Falls City Council meeting to express concerns about the level of nitrates in Cedar Falls water. They referenced the rising cancer cases in Iowa and suggested that the EPA’s standard of 10 ppm is not a safe level.
We appreciate their interest but want our customers to have complete information. While it’s not our role as a water provider to set public health policy, we do want to clarify that the EPA 10 ppm standard is based on strong, consistent scientific studies. There are unanswered questions about the research that concludes the nitrate standard should be lowered, and the science is not settled. Regulatory standards are built conservatively to account for uncertainty. Public health policy should be grounded in consistent evidence, and CFU must follow the standards set by our regulating bodies. In addition, we have not identified any other states or cities that have set a lower limit for nitrates in water. We are following the widely accepted EPA limits.
Some background on the EPA is important here: The EPA is required to review existing regulations every six years and determine which, if any, are appropriate for revision. The purpose of the review is to evaluate available information for regulated contaminants to determine if any new information on health effects, treatment technologies, analytical methods, occurrence, exposure, implementation, and/or other factors provides a basis to support a regulatory revision that would improve or strengthen public health protection. In July 2024, the EPA did not flag nitrates for review during its Six-Year Review of existing national drinking water regulations.
The reason that nitrates were not considered for review during this six-year cycle was because of data gaps and emerging or evolving information. The fact is: there is a lack of consensus on the most appropriate standards. As a public utility, CFU must follow state and federal water quality standards.
It is not CFU’s role to debate standards with public health researchers. Our role is to meet the EPA standard as affordably as we can. We would encourage concerned members of the public to lobby the regulatory and legislative bodies that establish these water standards. CFU cares deeply about public health, and we will comply with the water quality standards that are implemented by the regulatory authorities.
The cancer rates in Iowa are a complicated and serious topic that deserves more research. Cancer rates are influenced by many overlapping factors, including an aging population, lifestyle factors and other environmental risks such as radon. While this is an important issue for Iowa, it’s difficult to isolate one single factor, such as water quality, as the sole explanation.
In the meantime, we want to assure our customers that CFU water is safe and meets all federal and state water standards with 100% compliance. We invite customers to review our annual Water Consumer Confidence Report and reach out to our Water Services team with any questions. Protecting water quality is a responsibility we take seriously, and we are committed to delivering safe, affordable and dependable water service to the Cedar Falls community.