Penn Valley, CA tap water
Supplied mostly by Nevada Id - Lake Wildwood, plus 1 other utility. Here's what the water means for your fish.
Disinfectant
Not confirmed
We couldn't confirm how your water is disinfected. US utilities use chlorine or chloramine, and chloramine doesn't gas off when water sits out.
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 California Water Board lab results (2023–2025).
Nitrate (NO₃)
Up to 7.6 ppm (Low)
Typically not detected
Not detected in testing, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.
From California Water Board lab results; California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment (2023–2026).
Copper at home taps
Not detected (Low)
Not detected in testing. Water that sits in household pipes overnight can still pick some up.
From California Water Board lab results (2023).
Water chemistry
General hardness
Estimate15–215 ppm
Typical 15 ppm
Soft. Good for tetras, rasboras and most shrimp. Livebearers, snails and African cichlids prefer harder water.
Estimated from Nevada Id - Lake Wildwood's calcium and magnesium readings; California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment (2023–2026).
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
14–170 ppm
Typical 14 ppm
Little buffering. pH can drop quickly between water changes, especially with CO₂ or an older tank.
From California Water Board lab results; California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment (2023–2026).
pH
7.5–8.6
Typical 8.6
Alkaline. Many utilities raise pH to protect pipes. Stability matters more than the exact number.
From California Water Board lab results; California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment (2023–2026).
Total dissolved solids
50–426 ppm
Typical 50 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 California Water Board lab results; California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment (2023–2026).
Who supplies Penn Valley, CA
Nevada Id - Lake Wildwood
Serves 74% of residents · Lake or river water · Disinfectant not listed
Creekside Village
Serves 15% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · Disinfectant not listed
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.