Oro Valley, AZ tap water
Supplied mostly by Oro Valley Water Utility, plus 1 other utility. 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 EPA monitoring data (2013–2019).
Nitrate (NO₃)
4.1–32 ppm (Low)
Typical 6.4 ppm
Water changes can't take your tank's nitrate below this level.
From EPA monitoring data; Tucson Water's 2024 water quality report (2012–2024).
Copper at home taps (first draw)
0.14 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: Tucson Water's 2024 water quality report.
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
0.8–1.2 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: Tucson Water's 2024 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
Area estimate46–401 ppm
Typical 133 ppm
Moderately soft to medium. Suits most community fish and plants.
Area estimate from nearby wells: USGS well samples in your county (2000–2023).
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
61–140 ppm
Typical 100 ppm
Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.
From EPA monitoring data (2013–2019).
pH
6.9–7.9
Typical 7.5
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
From EPA monitoring data (2013–2019).
Total dissolved solids
Area estimate171–670 ppm
Typical 314 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 Oro Valley, AZ
Oro Valley Water Utility
Serves 86% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · Chlorine
- 2024 water quality report
Tucson Water
Serves 6% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · 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.