Cherokee, IA tap water
Supplied mostly by Cherokee Water Supply - Plant 1, 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
Nitrate (NO₃)
Not detected (Low)
Not detected in testing, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.
From EPA monitoring data (2012–2019).
Water chemistry
General hardness
Area estimate300–972 ppm
Typical 600 ppm
Hard. Ideal for livebearers and African cichlids. Soft-water species may struggle to breed.
Area estimate from nearby wells: USGS well samples in your county (2001–2006).
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
Area estimate270–330 ppm
Typical 290 ppm
Strong buffering. pH stays steady and hard to lower without RO water.
Area estimate from nearby wells: USGS well samples in your county (2001–2006).
pH
8.2
Alkaline. Many utilities raise pH to protect pipes. Stability matters more than the exact number.
From EPA monitoring data (2019).
Total dissolved solids
Area estimate175–1470 ppm
Typical 670 ppm
A rough measure of everything dissolved in the water. RO water reads near 0, so TDS is a quick way to compare waters.
Area estimate from nearby wells: USGS well samples in your county (2001–2006).
- Cherokee Water Supply - Plant 1 and Cherokee Rws - Cherokee Subsystem add phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
Who supplies Cherokee, IA
Cherokee Water Supply - Plant 1
Serves 51% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · Chloramine
Cherokee Rws - Cherokee Subsystem
Serves 44% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · 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.
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.