San Bernardino, CA tap water
Supplied mostly by City of San Bernardino Municipal Water Department, 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 (2012–2015).
Nitrate (NO₃)
Up to 27 ppm (Low)
Typical 3.7 ppm
Low, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.
Published by your utility: City of San Bernardino Municipal Water Department's 2024 water quality report; East Valley Water District's 2024 water quality report.
Copper at home taps
0.13–0.15 ppm (Worth knowing)
Typical 0.13 ppm
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.
From California Water Board lab results (2024).
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
0.2–3.2 ppm
Typical 0.7 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 San Bernardino Municipal Water Department's 2024 water quality report; East Valley Water District's 2024 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
130–330 ppm
Typical 242 ppm
Hard. Ideal for livebearers and African cichlids. Soft-water species may struggle to breed.
Published by your utility: City of San Bernardino Municipal Water Department's 2024 water quality report; East Valley Water District's 2024 water quality report.
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
106–260 ppm
Typical 220 ppm
Strong buffering. pH stays steady and hard to lower without RO water.
From California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment; East Valley Water District's 2024 water quality report (2023–2024).
pH
7.2–8.1
Typical 8
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
From California Water Board lab results, measured before treatment; East Valley Water District's 2024 water quality report (2023–2024).
Total dissolved solids
200–440 ppm
Typical 345 ppm
A rough measure of everything dissolved in the water. RO water reads near 0, so TDS is a quick way to compare waters.
Published by your utility: City of San Bernardino Municipal Water Department's 2024 water quality report; East Valley Water District's 2024 water quality report.
- East Valley Water District adds phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
Who supplies San Bernardino, CA
- 2024 water quality report
City of San Bernardino Municipal Water Department
Serves 86% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · Chlorine
- 2024 water quality report
East Valley Water District
Serves 13% of residents · Lake or river water · 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.