Springfield, IL tap water
Supplied by City Water, Light & Power (CWLP). Here's what its 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 0.56 ppm of ammonia here. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.
Safety for fish and shrimp
Ammonia (with conditioner)
Estimate0.34–0.68 ppm (Worth knowing)
Typical 0.56 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 Water, Light & Power (CWLP) reports (2025).
Nitrite (NO₂)
Not detected (Low)
Not detected in testing, so any nitrite in your tank comes from the tank itself.
From EPA monitoring data (2012–2019).
Nitrate (NO₃)
0.9 ppm (Low)
Low, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.
From EPA monitoring data (2012–2019).
Copper at home taps (first draw)
0.08–0.25 ppm (Low)
The 90th percentile of first-draw samples from homes: water that sat in household pipes for at least six hours.
Low. Water that sits in household pipes overnight can carry more than this.
Published by your utility: City Water, Light & Power (CWLP)'s 2025 water quality report.
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
1.4–2.8 ppm
Typical 2.3 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 Water, Light & Power (CWLP)'s 2025 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
80–142 ppm
Typical 99 ppm
Moderately soft to medium. Suits most community fish and plants.
Published by your utility: City Water, Light & Power (CWLP)'s 2025 water quality report.
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
30–93 ppm
Typical 49 ppm
Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.
Published by your utility: City Water, Light & Power (CWLP)'s 2025 water quality report.
pH
9.1–9.7
Typical 9.4
Alkaline. Many utilities raise pH to protect pipes. Stability matters more than the exact number.
Published by your utility: City Water, Light & Power (CWLP)'s 2025 water quality report.
- City Water, Light & Power (CWLP) adds phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
- City Water, Light & Power (CWLP) softens its water at the plant, so it may be softer than the local groundwater.
Who supplies Springfield, IL
- 2025 water quality report
City Water, Light & Power (CWLP)
Serves 98% of residents · Lake or river water · 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.
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.