Mead Valley, CA tap water
Supplied mostly by Eastern Municipal Water District, 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 0.39 ppm of ammonia here. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.
Safety for fish and shrimp
Ammonia (with conditioner)
Estimate0.36–0.41 ppm (Low)
Typical 0.39 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 Eastern Municipal Water District reports (2025).
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 (2023–2026).
Nitrate (NO₃)
Up to 25 ppm (Low)
Typical 6.1 ppm
Water changes can't take your tank's nitrate below this level.
From California Water Board lab results (2023–2026).
Copper at home taps (first draw)
0.02–0.22 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.
From Eastern Municipal Water District's 2025 water quality report; California Water Board lab results.
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
1.5–1.7 ppm
Typical 1.6 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: Eastern Municipal Water District's 2025 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
8–570 ppm
Typical 128 ppm
Moderately soft to medium. Suits most community fish and plants.
From Eastern Municipal Water District's 2025 water quality report; Metropolitan Water Dist. of So. Cal. and City of Riverside and Eastern Municipal WD and Western MWD and Chino Basin Desalter Auth. - Desalter 2, which supplies Western MWD (2023–2026).
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
9–360 ppm
Typical 86 ppm
Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.
From Eastern Municipal Water District's 2025 water quality report; Metropolitan Water Dist. of So. Cal. and City of Riverside and Eastern Municipal WD and Western MWD and Chino Basin Desalter Auth. - Desalter 2, which supplies Western MWD (2023–2026).
pH
6.6–8.8
Typical 7.9
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
From Eastern Municipal Water District's 2025 water quality report; California Water Board lab results (2025–2026).
Total dissolved solids
27–1150 ppm
Typical 324 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 Eastern Municipal Water District's 2025 water quality report; Metropolitan Water Dist. of So. Cal. and City of Riverside and Eastern Municipal WD and Western MWD and Chino Basin Desalter Auth. - Desalter 2, which supplies Western MWD (2023–2026).
- Eastern Municipal Water District and Western MWD add phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
Who supplies Mead Valley, CA
- 2025 water quality report
Eastern Municipal Water District
Serves 95% of residents · Buys water from Metropolitan Water Dist. of So. Cal. · Chloramine
Western MWD
Serves 8% of residents · Buys water from Metropolitan Water Dist. of So. Cal. · 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.