Lab news · IA · Updated 2026-08-31
Iowa well-lab news
Dated notes from EPA and Iowa DNR. Not headlines. Private wells are not under mandated drinking-water MCLs; DNR still points owners at EPA public-system numbers as a comparison.
Dated notes from agency pages, not invented headlines. Public-system MCLs do not bind a private well unless the item is about a private-well statute. Bacteria or nitrate on a lab sheet still goes to the health department. This site is not medical advice.
18 May 2026
FederalEPA proposed keeping the PFOA and PFOS maximum contaminant levels at 4.0 ppt for public water systems, and letting requesting systems take until April 26, 2031 instead of April 26, 2029. The comment period closed July 20, 2026. EPA last updated that page July 23, 2026.
This is a proposal, not a final rule. It does not require a private-well owner to test or treat. Public-system MCLs do not bind a kitchen tap on a private well.
18 May 2026
FederalIn the same window, EPA separately proposed rescinding MCLs for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (GenX), and the Hazard Index mixture. That page was live when this note was written and is linked from the extension-rule page.
That action is still a proposal. Do not read it as those limits being gone. A private-well owner is not under that public-system rule either way.
31 August 2026
IowaIowa DNR’s well-testing page states that private wells do not fall under mandated state or national water-quality standards, and that owners should use EPA public-system MCLs as the comparison, including 10 mg/L nitrate as N. DNR’s Private Well Grants cadence is annual bacteria and nitrate, and arsenic and manganese every three years.
A nitrate result at or above 10 mg/L as N, or a present coliform / E. coli, still goes to the county health department. This page does not reprint disease lists from DNR’s contaminants section.
1 July 2026
IowaIowa’s fiscal year resets on July 1. Private Well Grants still fund free covered tests (nitrate, bacteria, arsenic, manganese) through the county. DNR’s well-testing page publishes reimbursement caps of $400 shock chlorination, $600 well assessment, $700 well plugging, $400 cistern plugging, and $2,000 well reconstruction. The county specialist collects the sample. LabCert remains the certified-lab search.
Call the county environmental health office for this year’s funds. This site does not invent remaining-dollar totals.
31 August 2026
IowaDNR’s well-testing page links a Private Wells and PFAS Overview PDF and states that PFAS testing requires pre-approval from DNR. The PDF says owners may be eligible for free PFAS testing through Private Well Grants by contacting the county health department.
Do not mail a PFAS bottle under the grants program without that DNR pre-approval. Health questions about a result belong with the county, not this directory.
See also the Iowa lab inventory, certified labs by state, and the homepage.