Waterloo, IA tap water
Supplied by Waterloo Water Works. Here's what its 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
Nitrate (NO₃)
20–33 ppm (High)
Typical 29 ppm
High for tap water. Water changes can't take your tank's nitrate below this level.
From EPA monitoring data (2013).
Water chemistry
General hardness
Area estimate220–358 ppm
Typical 260 ppm
Hard. Ideal for livebearers and African cichlids. Soft-water species may struggle to breed.
Area estimate from nearby wells: USGS well samples in your county (2001–2017).
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
225 ppm
Strong buffering. pH stays steady and hard to lower without RO water.
From EPA monitoring data (2018–2019).
pH
Area estimate7.1–7.6
Typical 7.5
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
Area estimate from nearby wells: USGS well samples in your county (2001–2017).
Total dissolved solids
Area estimate195–540 ppm
Typical 282 ppm
A rough measure of everything dissolved in the water. RO water reads near 0, so TDS is a quick way to compare waters.
Area estimate from nearby wells: USGS well samples in your county (2001–2017).
Who supplies Waterloo, IA
Waterloo Water Works
Serves 97% 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.