Bellefonte, DE tap water
Supplied mostly by Veolia Water Delaware, Inc, plus 1 other utility. Here's what the water means for your fish.
Disinfectant
Chlorine or chloramine
Utilities here use chlorine or chloramine, depending on which one serves your address. Chlorine slowly gases off from standing water; chloramine doesn't.
Safety for fish and shrimp
Nitrite (NO₂)
Up to 0.04 ppm (Low)
Typically not detected
Not detected in testing, so any nitrite in your tank comes from the tank itself.
From EPA monitoring data; City of Wilmington Department of Public Works Water Division's 2021 water quality report (2012–2021).
Nitrate (NO₃)
2.2–21 ppm (Worth knowing)
Typical 12 ppm
Water changes can't take your tank's nitrate below this level.
From EPA monitoring data; City of Wilmington Department of Public Works Water Division's 2021 water quality report (2012–2021).
Copper at home taps (first draw)
0.27 ppm (Worth knowing)
The 90th percentile of first-draw samples from homes: water that sat in household pipes for at least six hours.
Shrimp and snails are sensitive to copper. Water that sits in household pipes picks up the most; it drops once the tap has run for a minute.
Published by your utility: City of Wilmington Department of Public Works Water Division's 2021 water quality report.
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
0–2.5 ppm
Typical 1.8 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.
Published by your utility: City of Wilmington Department of Public Works Water Division's 2021 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
74–138 ppm
Typical 111 ppm
Moderately soft to medium. Suits most community fish and plants.
Published by your utility: City of Wilmington Department of Public Works Water Division's 2021 water quality report.
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
31–84 ppm
Typical 59 ppm
Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.
From EPA monitoring data; City of Wilmington Department of Public Works Water Division's 2021 water quality report (2012–2021).
pH
6.6–7.9
Typical 7.3
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
From EPA monitoring data; City of Wilmington Department of Public Works Water Division's 2021 water quality report (2012–2021).
Total dissolved solids
Estimate103–459 ppm
Typical 239 ppm
A rough measure of everything dissolved in the water. RO water reads near 0, so TDS is a quick way to compare waters.
Estimated from City of Wilmington Department of Public Works Water Division's conductivity readings (2021).
- Veolia Water Delaware, Inc and City of Wilmington Department of Public Works Water Division add phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
Who supplies Bellefonte, DE
Veolia Water Delaware, Inc
Serves 76% of residents · Lake or river water · Chloramine
- 2021 water quality report
City of Wilmington Department of Public Works Water Division
Serves 12% of residents · Lake or river water · Chlorine
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.
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Compiled by Shoal & Stem from public records. Free to cite with a link.