Frontenac, MO tap water
Supplied mostly by Missouri American Water – St. Louis St. Charles Counties, 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 a little ammonia. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.
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 (2012–2019).
Nitrate (NO₃)
1.8–6.2 ppm (Low)
Typical 5.7 ppm
Water changes can't take your tank's nitrate below this level.
From EPA monitoring data; Missouri American Water – St. Louis St. Charles Counties, which supplies Kirkwood PWS (2012–2019).
Copper at home taps (first draw)
Up to 0.06 ppm (Low)
The 90th percentile of first-draw samples from homes: water that sat in household pipes for at least six hours.
Low. Water that sits in household pipes overnight can carry more than this.
Published by your utility: Missouri American Water – St. Louis St. Charles Counties' 2025 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
67–223 ppm
Typical 142 ppm
Moderately soft to medium. Suits most community fish and plants.
From Missouri American Water – St. Louis St. Charles Counties' website; Missouri American Water – St. Louis St. Charles Counties, which supplies Kirkwood PWS.
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
129–200 ppm
Typical 165 ppm
Strong buffering. pH stays steady and hard to lower without RO water.
From Missouri American Water – St. Louis St. Charles Counties' 2025 water quality report; Missouri American Water – St. Louis St. Charles Counties, which supplies Kirkwood PWS.
pH
9.4–10.2
Typical 9.8
Alkaline. Many utilities raise pH to protect pipes. Stability matters more than the exact number.
From Missouri American Water – St. Louis St. Charles Counties' website; Missouri American Water – St. Louis St. Charles Counties, which supplies Kirkwood PWS.
- Missouri American Water – St. Louis St. Charles Counties and Kirkwood PWS add phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
- Missouri American Water – St. Louis St. Charles Counties and Kirkwood PWS soften their water at the plant, so it may be softer than the local groundwater.
Who supplies Frontenac, MO
- 2025 water quality report
Missouri American Water – St. Louis St. Charles Counties
Serves 91% of residents · Lake or river water · Chloramine
Kirkwood PWS
Serves 7% of residents · Buys water from Missouri American Water – St. Louis St. Charles Counties · 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.
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Compiled by Shoal & Stem from public records. Free to cite with a link.