Desert Hot Springs, CA tap water
Part of Desert Hot Springs is supplied by Desert Water Agency, plus 1 other utility. Here's what its water means for your fish.
Disinfectant
Chlorine
Utility water here is treated with chlorine. It slowly gases off from standing water, and any water conditioner removes it.
Safety for fish and shrimp
Nitrite (NO₂)
Not detected (Low)
Not detected in testing, so any nitrite in your tank comes from the tank itself.
From EPA monitoring data (2014–2019).
Nitrate (NO₃)
Up to 6.4 ppm (Low)
Typical 2 ppm
Low, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.
From EPA monitoring data; California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment (2014–2026).
Copper at home taps
0.05–0.1 ppm (Low)
Typical 0.1 ppm
Low. Water that sits in household pipes overnight can carry more than this.
From California Water Board lab results (2023–2024).
Water chemistry
General hardness
58–340 ppm
Typical 230 ppm
Hard. Ideal for livebearers and African cichlids. Soft-water species may struggle to breed.
From California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment (2023–2026).
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
78–170 ppm
Typical 130 ppm
Strong buffering. pH stays steady and hard to lower without RO water.
From California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment (2023–2026).
pH
7.5–8
Typical 7.9
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
From EPA monitoring data; California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment (2014–2026).
Total dissolved solids
130–740 ppm
Typical 390 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 (2023–2026).
Who supplies Desert Hot Springs, CA
Desert Water Agency
Serves 48% of residents · Lake or river water · Chlorine
Mission Springs WD
Serves 48% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · Chlorine
We couldn't fully map which utility serves Desert Hot Springs. These numbers come from the utilities we matched, which serve about 49% of residents.
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.