Lake Elsinore, CA tap water
Supplied by Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD). 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 0.29 ppm of ammonia here. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.
Safety for fish and shrimp
Ammonia (with conditioner)
Estimate0.29–1.17 ppm (Low)
Typical 0.29 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 Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD) reports (2024).
Nitrite (NO₂)
Not detected (Low)
Not detected in testing, so any nitrite in your tank comes from the tank itself.
From California Water Board lab results (2025).
Nitrate (NO₃)
4.9–30 ppm (Low)
Typical 7.1 ppm
Water changes can't take your tank's nitrate below this level.
Published by your utility: Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD)'s 2024 water quality report.
Copper at home taps
0.03 ppm (Low)
Low. Water that sits in household pipes overnight can carry more than this.
From California Water Board lab results (2025).
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
1.2–4.8 ppm
Typical 1.2 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: Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD)'s 2024 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
54–715 ppm
Typical 208 ppm
Moderately hard. Great for livebearers, and most community fish adapt.
Published by your utility: Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD)'s 2024 water quality report.
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
14–191 ppm
Typical 60 ppm
Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.
Published by your utility: Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD)'s 2024 water quality report.
pH
6.8–9
Typical 8
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
Published by your utility: Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD)'s 2024 water quality report.
Total dissolved solids
200–1210 ppm
Typical 551 ppm
A rough measure of everything dissolved in the water. RO water reads near 0, so TDS is a quick way to compare waters.
Published by your utility: Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD)'s 2024 water quality report.
- Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD) adds phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
Who supplies Lake Elsinore, CA
- 2024 water quality report
Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD)
Serves 97% 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.
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Compiled by Shoal & Stem from public records. Free to cite with a link.