Princeton shuts new well after 12.1 nitrate reading, Kcci

Princeton shut down its new well in September 2024 after kcci said tests found 12.1 milligrams of nitrate per liter, above the EPA limit. The city had spent nearly $800,000 on the well and an accompanying water tower, but the new source went offline immediately after the Iowa Department of Natural Resources notified officials of the violation.

Princeton's only clean source

The town’s main well, drilled in 1963, still supplies clean water for 350 households and businesses. That leaves the city depending on one working source after years without a backup, even though Princeton had invested in the new system to reduce that risk.

Chris Rindler, the city public works foreman, said the city cannot treat a single well as enough for everyone it serves. “We have 1,000 people that need water, potable water. And to not give them that reliable backup, well, I don’t think that’s an option,” he said.

Spring 2025 nitrate levels

The problem did not stop with the shutdown. Rindler said nitrate concentrations in the decommissioned well peaked in spring 2025 at around 16 milligrams per liter, and not a single sample has fallen within the allowable range since the well was taken out of service.

Princeton’s older auxiliary well was capped in 2009 after years of state violations for high nitrate levels, leaving the city without a second dependable source. The latest failure means the new investment did not restore the backup system the town had gone years without.

For residents, the practical result is simple: the city still has one main clean-water well for nearly 1,000 people, and the replacement source cannot be used.