Orlando, FL tap water
Supplied by Orlando Utilities Commission. Here's what its 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 0.29 ppm of ammonia here. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.
Safety for fish and shrimp
Ammonia (with conditioner)
Estimate0.05–0.54 ppm (Low)
Typical 0.29 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 Orlando Utilities Commission reports (2025).
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)
1 ppm (Low)
Low, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.
Published by your utility: Orlando Utilities Commission's 2025 water quality report.
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
0.2–2.2 ppm
Typical 1.2 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: Orlando Utilities Commission's 2025 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
129 ppm
Moderately soft to medium. Suits most community fish and plants.
Published by your utility: Orlando Utilities Commission's website.
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
Area estimate38–290 ppm
Typical 210 ppm
Strong buffering. pH stays steady and hard to lower without RO water.
Area estimate from nearby wells: USGS well samples in your county (2000–2023).
pH
7.5–7.8
Typical 7.6
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
From EPA monitoring data (2012–2017).
Total dissolved solids
Area estimate121–918 ppm
Typical 544 ppm
A rough measure of everything dissolved in the water. RO water reads near 0, so TDS is a quick way to compare waters.
Area estimate from nearby wells: USGS well samples in your county (2000–2023).
Who supplies Orlando, FL
- 2025 water quality report
Orlando Utilities Commission
Serves 89% 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.