Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, FL tap water
Supplied mostly by City of Fort Lauderdale, 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 about 0.56 ppm of ammonia here. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.
Safety for fish and shrimp
Ammonia (with conditioner)
Estimate0.46–0.68 ppm (Worth knowing)
Typical 0.56 ppm
This is what a conditioner frees when it breaks the chloramine apart. A cycled filter clears it within a day; a big water change in a new or very small tank adds more of it at once. Some conditioners also bind ammonia for a day or so.
Estimated from the chloramine level City of Fort Lauderdale reports (2025).
Nitrite (NO₂)
Up to 0.05 ppm (Low)
Typical 0.05 ppm
Essentially none, so any nitrite in your tank comes from the tank itself.
From City of Fort Lauderdale's 2025 water quality report; EPA monitoring data (2012–2025).
Nitrate (NO₃)
0.1–3 ppm (Low)
Typical 0.1 ppm
Low, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.
From City of Fort Lauderdale's 2025 water quality report; EPA monitoring data (2012–2025).
Copper at home taps (first draw)
0.14 ppm (Worth knowing)
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 Fort Lauderdale's 2025 water quality report.
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
1.9–2.8 ppm
Typical 2.3 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 Fort Lauderdale's 2025 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
Not published yet
We haven't found this number yet. A drop test kit gives you your exact reading.
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
Not published yet
We haven't found this number yet. A drop test kit gives you your exact reading.
pH
8.6–9.5
Typical 9.2
Alkaline. Many utilities raise pH to protect pipes. Stability matters more than the exact number.
From EPA monitoring data (2012–2019).
- City of Fort Lauderdale and City of Pompano soften their water at the plant, so it may be softer than the local groundwater.
Who supplies Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, FL
- 2025 water quality report
City of Fort Lauderdale
Serves 55% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · Chloramine
City of Pompano
Serves 44% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · 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.
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.