Springs, NY tap water
Supplied mostly by Saratoga Springs City, plus 2 other utilities. 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 (2014).
Nitrate (NO₃)
0.9–33 ppm (Low)
Typical 2.1 ppm
Low, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.
From EPA monitoring data; Suffolk County Water Authority's water quality report (2012–2019).
Copper at home taps (first draw)
0.5–1 ppm (High)
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: Suffolk County Water Authority's water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
186–495 ppm
Typical 259 ppm
Hard. Ideal for livebearers and African cichlids. Soft-water species may struggle to breed.
Published by your utility: Suffolk County Water Authority's water quality report.
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
30–262 ppm
Typical 181 ppm
Strong buffering. pH stays steady and hard to lower without RO water.
From EPA monitoring data, measured before treatment; Suffolk County Water Authority's water quality report (2012–2019).
pH
6.5–7.9
Typical 7.9
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
From EPA monitoring data; Suffolk County Water Authority's water quality report (2015).
Total dissolved solids
59–88 ppm
Typical 69 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: Suffolk County Water Authority's water quality report.
- Suffolk County Water Authority adds phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
Who supplies Springs, NY
Saratoga Springs City
Serves 66% of residents · Lake or river water · Chlorine
Maidstone Park Cottages
Serves 17% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · Disinfectant not listed
- Water quality report
Suffolk County Water Authority
Serves 14% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · 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.