Campbell, CA tap water
Supplied mostly by San Jose Water, 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 0.34 ppm of ammonia here. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.
Safety for fish and shrimp
Ammonia (with conditioner)
Estimate0.34 ppm (Low)
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 San Jose Water reports (2025).
Nitrite (NO₂)
Not detected (Low)
Not detected in testing, so any nitrite in your tank comes from the tank itself.
From California Water Board lab results (2023–2026).
Nitrate (NO₃)
1.5–29 ppm (Low)
Typical 1.5 ppm
Low, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.
From San Jose Water's 2025 water quality report; California Water Board lab results (2025–2026).
Copper at home taps
Up to 1.4 ppm (Low)
Typically not detected
Not detected in testing. Water that sits in household pipes overnight can still pick some up.
From San Jose Water's 2025 water quality report; California Water Board lab results (2025–2026).
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
1.4 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: San Jose Water's 2025 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
99–452 ppm
Typical 102 ppm
Moderately soft to medium. Suits most community fish and plants.
From San Jose Water's 2025 water quality report; California Water Board lab results (2025–2026).
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
68–140 ppm
Typical 68 ppm
Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.
From California Water Board lab results (2023–2026).
pH
7.6–8.2
Typical 7.6
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
From California Water Board lab results (2023–2026).
Total dissolved solids
180–520 ppm
Typical 279 ppm
A rough measure of everything dissolved in the water. RO water reads near 0, so TDS is a quick way to compare waters.
From San Jose Water's 2025 water quality report; California Water Board lab results (2025–2026).
- San Jose Water and Santa Clara Valley Water District add phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
Who supplies Campbell, CA
- 2025 water quality report
San Jose Water
Serves 51% of residents · Lake or river water · Chloramine
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Serves 51% 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.