Kalamazoo, MI tap water
Supplied by City of Kalamazoo Public Water Supply System. Here's what its 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)
5.3 ppm (Low)
Water changes can't take your tank's nitrate below this level.
Published by your utility: City of Kalamazoo Public Water Supply System's 2024 water quality report.
Copper at home taps (first draw)
Up to 7.9 ppm (High)
The 90th percentile of first-draw samples from homes: water that sat in household pipes for at least six hours.
Shrimp and snails are sensitive to copper. Water that sits in household pipes picks up the most; it drops once the tap has run for a minute.
Published by your utility: City of Kalamazoo Public Water Supply System's 2024 water quality report.
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
0.9–3.8 ppm
Typical 0.9 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: City of Kalamazoo Public Water Supply System's 2024 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
Area estimate211–521 ppm
Typical 350 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 state (2000–2023).
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
Area estimate175–360 ppm
Typical 279 ppm
Strong buffering. pH stays steady and hard to lower without RO water.
Area estimate from nearby wells: USGS well samples in your state (2000–2023).
pH
Area estimate7.1–7.6
Typical 7.3
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
Area estimate from nearby wells: USGS well samples in your county (2013–2023).
Total dissolved solids
Area estimate169–698 ppm
Typical 323 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 state (2000–2023).
- City of Kalamazoo Public Water Supply System adds phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
Who supplies Kalamazoo, MI
- 2024 water quality report
City of Kalamazoo Public Water Supply System
Serves 67% 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.