Virginia Beach, VA tap water
Supplied by Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities. 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 0.52 ppm of ammonia here. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.
Safety for fish and shrimp
Ammonia (with conditioner)
Estimate0.24–1.17 ppm (Worth knowing)
Typical 0.64 ppm
About 0.12 ppm is already in the water, and a conditioner frees about 0.52 ppm more 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 Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities reports; Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities' 2025 water quality report.
Nitrate (NO₃)
Supplier's figure1.2–1.3 ppm (Low)
Typical 1.3 ppm
Low, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.
From the utility that supplies yours: City of Norfolk, which supplies Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities (2012–2013).
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
0.5–3.8 ppm
Typical 2.2 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: Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities' 2025 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
48–564 ppm
Typical 564 ppm
Hard. Ideal for livebearers and African cichlids. Soft-water species may struggle to breed.
Published by your utility: Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities' 2025 water quality report.
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
31–55 ppm
Typical 43 ppm
Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.
Published by your utility: Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities' 2025 water quality report.
pH
7.1–8.3
Typical 7.6
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
Published by your utility: Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities' 2025 water quality report.
Total dissolved solids
121–131 ppm
Typical 127 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: Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities' 2025 water quality report.
- Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities adds phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
Who supplies Virginia Beach, VA
- 2025 water quality report
Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities
Serves 97% of residents · Buys water from City of Norfolk · 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.