West Covina, CA tap water
Supplied mostly by Suburban Water Systems-San Jose, plus 2 other utilities. Here's what the 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 0.21 ppm of ammonia here. Some utilities switch to plain chlorine for a few weeks a year.
Safety for fish and shrimp
Ammonia (with conditioner)
Estimate0.07–0.32 ppm (Low)
Typical 0.21 ppm
This is what a conditioner frees when it breaks the chloramine apart. A cycled filter clears it within a day.
Estimated from the chloramine level Azusa Light & Water reports (2024).
Nitrite (NO₂)
Not detected (Low)
Not detected in testing, so any nitrite in your tank comes from the tank itself.
From California Water Board lab results (2023–2026).
Nitrate (NO₃)
1.8–33 ppm (Worth knowing)
Typical 16 ppm
Water changes can't take your tank's nitrate below this level.
From California Water Board lab results; Azusa Light & Water's 2024 water quality report (2023–2026).
Copper at home taps
Up to 0.86 ppm (Worth knowing)
Typical 0.12 ppm
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.
From California Water Board lab results; Azusa Light & Water's 2024 water quality report (2023–2026).
Chlorine or chloramine at the tap
0.3–1.3 ppm
Typical 0.9 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: Azusa Light & Water's 2024 water quality report.
Water chemistry
General hardness
Supplier's figure82–291 ppm
Typical 227 ppm
Hard. Ideal for livebearers and African cichlids. Soft-water species may struggle to breed.
From the utility that supplies yours: Pomona - City, Water Dept. and La Puente Valley CWD and Covina Valley Water Company - Wholesale and Metropolitan Water Dist. of So. Cal. and Valley County Water Dist. and Walnut Valley Water District, which supplies Suburban Water Systems-San Jose; Azusa Light & Water's 2024 water quality report; California Water Board lab results (2023–2026).
Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)
Supplier's figure68–220 ppm
Typical 131 ppm
Strong buffering. pH stays steady and hard to lower without RO water.
From the utility that supplies yours: Pomona - City, Water Dept. and La Puente Valley CWD and Covina Valley Water Company - Wholesale and Metropolitan Water Dist. of So. Cal. and Valley County Water Dist. and Walnut Valley Water District, which supplies Suburban Water Systems-San Jose; California Water Board lab results (2023–2026).
pH
Supplier's figure7–8.7
Typical 7.9
Most community fish do well here. Stable water matters more than the exact number.
From the utility that supplies yours: Pomona - City, Water Dept. and La Puente Valley CWD and Covina Valley Water Company - Wholesale and Metropolitan Water Dist. of So. Cal. and Valley County Water Dist. and Walnut Valley Water District, which supplies Suburban Water Systems-San Jose; Azusa Light & Water's 2024 water quality report; California Water Board lab results (2023–2026).
Total dissolved solids
Supplier's figure160–666 ppm
Typical 375 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: Pomona - City, Water Dept. and La Puente Valley CWD and Covina Valley Water Company - Wholesale and Metropolitan Water Dist. of So. Cal. and Valley County Water Dist. and Walnut Valley Water District, which supplies Suburban Water Systems-San Jose; Azusa Light & Water's 2024 water quality report; California Water Board lab results (2023–2026).
- Suburban Water Systems-San Jose adds phosphate to protect pipes. It can feed algae in tanks without much plant growth.
Who supplies West Covina, CA
Suburban Water Systems-San Jose
Serves 68% of residents · Buys water from Pomona - City, Water Dept. · Chloramine
- 2024 water quality report
Azusa Light & Water
Serves 12% of residents · Lake or river water · Chloramine
Three Valleys MWD
Serves 8% of residents · Lake or river water · 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.