Shoal & Stem

Walton, KY tap water

Supplied mostly by Walton Waterworks 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 (2012–2019).

Nitrate (NO₃)

Supplier's figure

3–4 ppm (Low)

Typical 3.7 ppm

Low, so water changes lower your tank's nitrate well.

From the utility that supplies yours: Northern Kentucky Water District, which supplies Walton Waterworks Department; Northern Kentucky Water District's 2025 water quality report.

Copper at home taps (first draw)

0.01–1.27 ppm (Worth knowing)

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: Northern Kentucky Water District's 2025 water quality report.

Chlorine or chloramine at the tap

1.1–1.3 ppm

Typical 1.2 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: Northern Kentucky Water District's 2025 water quality report.

Water chemistry

General hardness

Supplier's figure

78–168 ppm

Typical 126 ppm

Moderately soft to medium. Suits most community fish and plants.

From the utility that supplies yours: Northern Kentucky Water District, which supplies Walton Waterworks Department; Northern Kentucky Water District's 2025 water quality report.

Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)

Supplier's figure

37–125 ppm

Typical 75 ppm

Moderate buffering. pH should stay fairly steady.

From the utility that supplies yours: Northern Kentucky Water District, which supplies Walton Waterworks Department; Northern Kentucky Water District's 2025 water quality report.

pH

Supplier's figure

7–7.6

Typical 7.3

Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.

From the utility that supplies yours: Northern Kentucky Water District, which supplies Walton Waterworks Department; Northern Kentucky Water District's 2025 water quality report.

Total dissolved solids

Supplier's figure

108–298 ppm

Typical 208 ppm

A rough measure of everything dissolved in the water. RO water reads near 0, so TDS is a quick way to compare waters.

From the utility that supplies yours: Northern Kentucky Water District, which supplies Walton Waterworks Department; Northern Kentucky Water District's 2025 water quality report.

  • Walton Waterworks Department and Northern Kentucky Water District add phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.

Who supplies Walton, KY

  • Walton Waterworks Department

    Serves 89% of residents · Buys water from Northern Kentucky Water District · Chlorine

  • Northern Kentucky Water District

    Serves 6% of residents · Lake or river water · Chlorine

    2025 water quality report

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.

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