Palm River-Clair Mel, FL tap water
Supplied mostly by City of Tampa Water Department, 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 0.88 ppm of ammonia here. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.
Safety for fish and shrimp
Ammonia (with conditioner)
Estimate0.01–1.65 ppm (Worth knowing)
Typical 0.88 ppm
This is what a conditioner frees when it breaks the chloramine apart. A cycled filter clears it within a day; a big water change in a new or very small tank adds more of it at once. Some conditioners also bind ammonia for a day or so.
Estimated from the chloramine level City of Tampa Water Department reports; the chloramine level Hillsborough County Water Resources reports (2025).
Nitrite (NO₂)
Up to 0.82 ppm (Low)
Typically not detected
Not detected in testing, so any nitrite in your tank comes from the tank itself.
From EPA monitoring data (2012–2019).
Nitrate (NO₃)
0.9–1.3 ppm (Low)
Typical 1.3 ppm
Low, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.
Published by your utility: City of Tampa Water Department's 2025 water quality report; Hillsborough County Water Resources' 2025 water quality report.
Copper at home taps (first draw)
Up to 1.12 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: City of Tampa Water Department's 2025 water quality report; Hillsborough County Water Resources' 2025 water quality report.
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
0–6.8 ppm
Typical 3.6 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: City of Tampa Water Department's 2025 water quality report; Hillsborough County Water Resources' 2025 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
211 ppm
Moderately hard. Great for livebearers, and most community fish adapt.
Published by your utility: City of Tampa Water Department's 2025 water quality report.
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
Supplier's figure98 ppm
Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.
From the utility that supplies yours: Tampa Bay Water Reg. Surface Water Plant, which supplies Hillsborough County Water Resources (2019).
pH
7.5–7.9
Typical 7.9
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
From City of Tampa Water Department's 2025 water quality report; EPA monitoring data (2014–2025).
- City of Tampa Water Department softens its water at the plant, so it may be softer than the local groundwater.
Who supplies Palm River-Clair Mel, FL
- 2025 water quality report
City of Tampa Water Department
Serves 83% of residents · Lake or river water · Chloramine
- 2025 water quality report
Hillsborough County Water Resources
Serves 10% of residents · Buys water from Tampa Bay Regional Groundwater Plant · 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.