Shoal & Stem
Tap water lookup

Pittsburgh, PA tap water

Supplied mostly by Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, 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 0.16 ppm of ammonia here. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.

Safety for fish and shrimp

Ammonia (with conditioner)

Estimate

Up to 0.81 ppm (Low)

Typical 0.16 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 Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority reports; the chloramine level Pennsylvania American Water - Pittsburgh System reports (2024–2025).

Nitrite (NO₂)

Up to 0.66 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)

1.6–3.7 ppm (Low)

Typical 2.4 ppm

Low, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.

Published by your utility: Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority's 2024 water quality report; Pennsylvania American Water - Pittsburgh System's 2025 water quality report (2024–2025).

Copper at home taps (first draw)

Up to 0.23 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: Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority's 2024 water quality report.

Chlorine or chloramine at the tap

0–3.4 ppm

Typical 0.6 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: Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority's 2024 water quality report; Pennsylvania American Water - Pittsburgh System's 2025 water quality report (2024–2025).

Water chemistry

General hardness

31–222 ppm

Typical 91 ppm

Moderately soft to medium. Suits most community fish and plants.

Published by your utility: Pennsylvania American Water - Pittsburgh System's 2025 water quality report.

Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)

44–54 ppm

Typical 49 ppm

Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.

From EPA monitoring data; EPA monitoring data, measured before treatment (2012–2019).

pH

7–8.4

Typical 8.2

Alkaline. Many utilities raise pH to protect pipes. Stability matters more than the exact number.

From EPA monitoring data; Pennsylvania American Water - Pittsburgh System's 2025 water quality report (2012–2025).

  • Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and Pennsylvania American Water - Pittsburgh System add phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.

Who supplies Pittsburgh, PA

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.

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