Matthews, NC tap water
Supplied mostly by Charlotte Water, plus 1 other utility. Here's what the water means for your fish.
Disinfectant
Chlorine or chloramine
Utilities here use chlorine or chloramine, depending on which one serves your address. Chlorine slowly gases off from standing water; chloramine doesn't.
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 EPA monitoring data (2012–2019).
Nitrate (NO₃)
Not detected (Low)
Not detected in testing, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.
From EPA monitoring data (2012–2019).
Copper at home taps (first draw)
Up to 0.08 ppm (Low)
The 90th percentile of first-draw samples from homes: water that sat in household pipes for at least six hours.
Not detected in testing. Water that sits in household pipes overnight can still pick some up.
Published by your utility: Charlotte Water's 2025 water quality report.
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
0.5–1.6 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: Charlotte Water's 2025 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
27–35 ppm
Typical 32 ppm
Soft. Good for tetras, rasboras and most shrimp. Livebearers, snails and African cichlids prefer harder water.
Published by your utility: Charlotte Water's 2025 water quality report.
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
17–25 ppm
Typical 21 ppm
Little buffering. pH can drop quickly between water changes, especially with CO₂ or an older tank.
Published by your utility: Charlotte Water's 2025 water quality report.
pH
7.4–9.5
Typical 8.5
Alkaline. Many utilities raise pH to protect pipes. Stability matters more than the exact number.
Published by your utility: Charlotte Water's 2025 water quality report.
Total dissolved solids
52–66 ppm
Typical 59 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: Charlotte Water's 2025 water quality report.
- Union County Water System adds phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
- Charlotte Water softens its water at the plant, so it may be softer than the local groundwater.
Who supplies Matthews, NC
- 2025 water quality report
Charlotte Water
Serves 81% of residents · Lake or river water · Chlorine
Union County Water System
Serves 10% 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.
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.