Chowchilla, CA tap water
Supplied mostly by Chowchilla City Water Dept, plus 2 other utilities. Here's what the water means for your fish.
Disinfectant
Chlorine
Your water is treated with chlorine. It slowly gases off from standing water, and any water conditioner removes it.
Safety for fish and shrimp
Nitrate (NO₃)
Up to 20 ppm (Low)
Typical 6.5 ppm
Water changes can't take your tank's nitrate below this level.
From California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment (2023–2026).
Copper at home taps
Up to 0.06 ppm (Low)
Typically not detected
Not detected in testing. Water that sits in household pipes overnight can still pick some up.
From California Water Board lab results (2023–2025).
Water chemistry
General hardness
47–160 ppm
Typical 90 ppm
Moderately soft to medium. Suits most community fish and plants.
From California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment; Central CA Womens Facility's calcium and magnesium readings, measured before treatment (2024–2026).
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
69–150 ppm
Typical 96 ppm
Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.
From California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment (2024–2026).
pH
7.3–7.9
Typical 7.7
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
From California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment (2024–2026).
Total dissolved solids
180–380 ppm
Typical 225 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 California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment (2024–2026).
Who supplies Chowchilla, CA
Chowchilla City Water Dept
Serves 70% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · Chlorine
Valley State Prison
Serves 16% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · Chlorine
Central CA Womens Facility
Serves 14% 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.