Shoal & Stem

Audubon, PA tap water

Supplied mostly by Pennsylvania American Water – Audubon, plus 1 other utility. Here's what the water means for your fish.

Disinfectant

Chloramine

Your water is treated with chloramine. Unlike chlorine, it doesn't gas off when water sits out, and many pitcher and fridge filters aren't rated to remove it. Conditioners that list chloramine on the label break it apart, which frees about 0.29 ppm of ammonia here. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.

Safety for fish and shrimp

Ammonia (with conditioner)

Estimate

0.24–0.5 ppm (Low)

Typical 0.29 ppm

This is what a conditioner frees when it breaks the chloramine apart. A cycled filter clears it within a day.

Estimated from the chloramine level Pennsylvania American Water – Audubon reports; the chloramine level Pennsylvania American Water – Norristown reports (2012–2019).

Nitrite (NO₂)

Not detected (Low)

Not detected in testing, so any nitrite in your tank comes from the tank itself.

From EPA monitoring data (2012–2019).

Nitrate (NO₃)

1.8–12 ppm (Low)

Typical 5.8 ppm

Water changes can't take your tank's nitrate below this level.

From EPA monitoring data (2012–2019).

Chlorine or chloramine at the tap

1–2 ppm

Typical 1.2 ppm

At tap levels, chlorine and chloramine are toxic to fish, shrimp and the bacteria in a filter. Water conditioners are made for this range.

From EPA monitoring data (2012–2019).

Water chemistry

General hardness

Not published yet

We haven't found this number yet. A drop test kit gives you your exact reading.

Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)

Supplier's figure

74–80 ppm

Typical 76 ppm

Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.

From the utility that supplies yours: Pennsylvania American Water – Norristown, which supplies Pennsylvania American Water – Audubon; EPA monitoring data (2016–2019).

pH

Supplier's figure

7.3–7.5

Typical 7.4

Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.

From the utility that supplies yours: Pennsylvania American Water – Norristown, which supplies Pennsylvania American Water – Audubon; EPA monitoring data (2016–2019).

  • Pennsylvania American Water – Audubon and Pennsylvania American Water – Norristown add phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.

Who supplies Audubon, PA

  • Pennsylvania American Water – Audubon

    Serves 86% of residents · Buys water from Pennsylvania American Water – Norristown · Chloramine

  • Pennsylvania American Water – Norristown

    Serves 6% of residents · Lake or river water · Chloramine

Our data comes from public records and is still incomplete. Many utilities don't publish every number, so we're adding more all the time. Your city's range is a starting point: testing your own tap is the only way to know exactly what's in it.

Tap water lookup covers US cities only for now. Want to know why it matters? Read our story on tap water.

Compiled by Shoal & Stem from public records. Free to cite with a link.

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