Theodore, AL tap water
Supplied mostly by Mobile County Water & Fire Pro Authority, 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 (2012–2019).
Nitrate (NO₃)
Up to 8.9 ppm (Low)
Typically not detected
Not detected in testing, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.
From EPA monitoring data; Mobile Area Water and Sewer System (MAWSS)'s 2025 water quality report (2012–2025).
Copper at home taps (first draw)
Up to 0.07 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: Mobile Area Water and Sewer System (MAWSS)'s 2025 water quality report.
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
0.8–1.7 ppm
Typical 1.4 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.
From EPA monitoring data (2013–2017).
Water chemistry
General hardness
38–50 ppm
Typical 50 ppm
Soft. Good for tetras, rasboras and most shrimp. Livebearers, snails and African cichlids prefer harder water.
Published by your utility: Mobile Area Water and Sewer System (MAWSS)'s 2025 water quality report.
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
10–212 ppm
Typical 117 ppm
Strong buffering. pH stays steady and hard to lower without RO water.
From EPA monitoring data; Mobile Area Water and Sewer System (MAWSS)'s 2025 water quality report (2012–2025).
pH
7.1–9.1
Typical 7.5
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
From EPA monitoring data; Mobile Area Water and Sewer System (MAWSS)'s 2025 water quality report (2013–2025).
Total dissolved solids
66–83 ppm
Typical 83 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: Mobile Area Water and Sewer System (MAWSS)'s 2025 water quality report.
- Mobile County Water & Fire Pro Authority and Mobile Area Water and Sewer System (MAWSS) add phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
Who supplies Theodore, AL
Mobile County Water & Fire Pro Authority
Serves 67% of residents · Groundwater (wells) · Chlorine
- 2025 water quality report
Mobile Area Water and Sewer System (MAWSS)
Serves 42% of residents · Lake or river water · Chlorine
St. Elmo-Irvington Water Authority
Serves 16% 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.