Mather, CA tap water
Supplied mostly by Scwa Mather-Sunrise, plus 2 other utilities. Here's what the 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
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 (2024–2026).
Nitrate (NO₃)
Up to 12 ppm (Low)
Typical 9.3 ppm
Water changes can't take your tank's nitrate below this level.
From California Water Board lab results; Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA)'s 2025 water quality report (2023–2026).
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.
From California Water Board lab results; Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA)'s 2025 water quality report (2024–2025).
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
0.1–2 ppm
Typical 1.3 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: Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA)'s 2025 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
9–160 ppm
Typical 51 ppm
Soft. Good for tetras, rasboras and most shrimp. Livebearers, snails and African cichlids prefer harder water.
From California Water Board lab results; Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA)'s 2025 water quality report (2023–2025).
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
42–190 ppm
Typical 62 ppm
Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.
From California Water Board lab results; Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA)'s 2025 water quality report (2023–2025).
pH
7.2–8.3
Typical 7.7
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
From California Water Board lab results; Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA)'s 2025 water quality report (2023–2025).
Total dissolved solids
91–390 ppm
Typical 101 ppm
A rough measure of everything dissolved in the water. RO water reads near 0, so TDS is a quick way to compare waters.
From California Water Board lab results; Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA)'s 2025 water quality report (2023–2025).
- Scwa Mather-Sunrise, Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA) and Cal Am - Suburban Rosemont soften their water at the plant, so it may be softer than the local groundwater.
Who supplies Mather, CA
Scwa Mather-Sunrise
Serves 45% of residents · Buys water from Scwa - Laguna/Vineyard · Chlorine
- 2025 water quality report
Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA)
Serves 45% of residents · Lake or river water · Chlorine
Cal Am - Suburban Rosemont
Serves 13% of residents · Buys water from Scwa Mather-Sunrise · 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.