Chester, PA tap water
Supplied by Chester Water Authority. Here's what its 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 0.27 ppm of ammonia here. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.
Safety for fish and shrimp
Ammonia (with conditioner)
Estimate0.27–0.85 ppm (Low)
Typical 0.27 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 Chester Water Authority reports (2024).
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)
8.9–35 ppm (High)
Typical 35 ppm
High for tap water. Water changes can't take your tank's nitrate below this level.
Published by your utility: Chester Water Authority's 2024 water quality report.
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
1.1–3.5 ppm
Typical 1.1 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: Chester Water Authority's 2024 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
80–145 ppm
Typical 113 ppm
Moderately soft to medium. Suits most community fish and plants.
Published by your utility: Chester Water Authority's 2024 water quality report.
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
39–77 ppm
Typical 56 ppm
Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.
Published by your utility: Chester Water Authority's 2024 water quality report.
pH
7.7–8.1
Typical 7.9
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
Published by your utility: Chester Water Authority's 2024 water quality report.
Who supplies Chester, PA
- 2024 water quality report
Chester Water Authority
Serves 96% 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.