Shoal & Stem

Lillington, NC tap water

Supplied mostly by Lillington Water System, 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 0.26 ppm of ammonia here. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.

Safety for fish and shrimp

Ammonia (with conditioner)

Estimate

Up to 1.02 ppm (Low)

Typical 0.26 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 Harnett Regional Water reports (2024).

Nitrite (NO₂)

Not detected (Low)

Not detected in testing, so any nitrite in your tank comes from the tank itself.

From EPA monitoring data (2012–2013).

Nitrate (NO₃)

Supplier's figure

Not detected (Low)

Not detected in testing, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.

From the utility that supplies yours: Harnett Regional Water, which supplies Lillington Water System; EPA monitoring data (2012–2019).

Copper at home taps (first draw)

0.05–3.68 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: Harnett Regional Water's 2024 water quality report.

Chlorine or chloramine at the tap

0–4.2 ppm

Typical 1 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: Harnett Regional Water's 2024 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)

Supplier's figure

0–13 ppm

Typical 7 ppm

Little buffering. pH can drop quickly between water changes, especially with CO₂ or an older tank.

From the utility that supplies yours: Harnett Regional Water, which supplies Lillington Water System; EPA monitoring data (2012–2019).

pH

Supplier's figure

7.6–7.9

Typical 7.6

Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.

From the utility that supplies yours: Harnett Regional Water, which supplies Lillington Water System; Harnett Regional Water's 2024 water quality report.

  • Lillington Water System and Harnett Regional Water add phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.

Who supplies Lillington, NC

  • Lillington Water System

    Serves 60% of residents · Buys water from Harnett Regional Water · Chloramine

  • Harnett Regional Water

    Serves 41% of residents · Lake or river water · Chloramine

    2024 water quality report

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.

More North Carolina cities

Look up another city