Tampa Water Report: Chloramine, Hardness and What They Mean at Home

If your Tampa tap water smells a little like a pool, or the shower glass never looks clean no matter how often you wipe it, the City of Tampa Water Department's own 2025 water quality report explains both. I pulled the two numbers that matter most inside a house, the disinfectant level and the hardness, and put them next to things you already know: a swimming pool, a hot tub and the USGS hardness scale. This page is for City of Tampa Water Department customers. If your bill comes from Hillsborough County or another utility, or you are on a well, your numbers are different; look up your water by ZIP.

Tampa water at a glance (2025)

Every number below comes from the City of Tampa Water Department's 2025 Water Quality Report, except the U.S. comparison, which is the median of the 3,615 utilities in our water quality database.

Why Tampa water can smell like a pool

Tampa disinfects twice. At the David L. Tippin plant the river water is treated with ozone, filtered through biologically active carbon, and then dosed with chlorine; ammonia is added next, which turns the chlorine into chloramine. The report says why: chloramine keeps the water disinfected as it travels through miles of pipe. The level in Tampa's pipes is high for city water: a highest 12-month average of 3.6 ppm, just under the EPA's 4.0 ppm limit and about three times the 1.1 ppm a typical U.S. utility reports.

To be fair about that comparison: the chemistry is different, and your tap does not smell like a hot tub. What some people notice is a faint pool note in a glass of water or in a hot shower, and whether you notice it depends on your nose and where your house sits on the system. Single readings ranged from 0.4 to 5.3 ppm across the year.

The smell is strongest for a few weeks at a time. A couple of times a year the city stops adding ammonia and disinfects with plain chlorine for three weeks, to clean out the mains (June 9 to 30, 2025; May 29 to June 19 and September 14 to October 5, 2026). The city says people sensitive to chlorine may notice a stronger taste or smell during those weeks, and its own advice is to consider a carbon filter on faucets and showerheads.

It is safe to drink by EPA standards; the question is whether you like the taste and smell. If you want it gone, the detail that matters is that chloramine is much more stable than chlorine. Ordinary activated carbon removes chlorine quickly but needs far more contact time for chloramine. Catalytic carbon is made for chloramine, which is why it is the carbon in every city water combo we sell.

How hard is 12.3 grains per gallon?

Tampa's treated water averages 211 mg/L of hardness, 12.3 grains per gallon, which is in the USGS "very hard" class (over 180 mg/L). Hardness is dissolved calcium and magnesium, reported as calcium carbonate. It is not a health concern; the USGS calls it a nuisance.

To put 211 mg/L in household terms: the EPA's WaterSense program puts the average American family at more than 300 gallons a day, about 70 percent of it indoors. That is roughly 210 gallons a day through the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry and water heater. At 211 mg/L, those gallons carry about 135 lb of hardness minerals a year. Most of it goes down the drain dissolved; the part that stays is what you see.

• Spots and film on glasses, shower doors and faucets as water dries.
• Scale in the water heater. The USGS notes that heating hard water forms calcium carbonate deposits that can shorten equipment life and lower the efficiency of electric water heaters.
• More soap for the same clean. Soap reacts with calcium to form soap scum, so hands, hair and laundry need more of it.

Dry skin and hair: what the research shows

You will read plenty of claims that softened water helps dry skin and hair. Part of that is simple chemistry: soap lathers and rinses differently in soft water. But I will not tell you a softener treats a skin condition. The largest controlled trial I know of, the Softened Water Eczema Trial (336 children with moderate to severe eczema, published in PLoS Medicine in 2011), found that softeners "provided no additional benefit to usual care" on eczema severity. Parents reported small improvements, which the researchers attributed to knowing which group they were in.

What softening does reliably is the list above: less scale, fewer spots, less soap scum. Removing chloramine changes the smell and taste. If either of those is what bothers you, that is a good reason to treat; if skin is the only reason, start with your dermatologist.

What the city's report cannot tell you

A utility report describes the water leaving the plant and moving through the city's mains. It does not see your house: how far you are from the plant, the age of your plumbing, your water heater, or the fixtures and solder inside your walls. The city's single readings ran from 0.4 to 5.3 ppm, so your tap can sit well above or below the 3.6 average. If you want your own numbers before buying anything, a total chlorine test strip shows the disinfectant at your tap in a minute, and a certified lab test covers hardness, lead, copper and the rest.

What removes chloramine and hardness

Two tanks, where the main line enters the house: catalytic carbon first for the chloramine, then a softener for the hardness. The carbon goes first because chlorine shortens the life of softener resin. At 12.3 grains of hardness, Tampa is inside the range these packages are sized for (up to about 15 grains), so household size is what picks the system:

The flow column is Calgon's sizing guideline for full chloramine removal; Tampa's level is high, so if your household runs several showers at once, size up a step. What ships: both tanks empty, the carbon and the softener resin in separate boxes or bags for loading at install, the control valves with their bypass valves pre-installed, and the brine tank. Drain tubing is not included.

I recommend having a plumber put it in, ideally one who has installed water treatment before: the two tanks go in a set order, the softener needs a 1/2 inch drain line to a floor drain, standpipe or utility sink, and it takes a plumber about 3 to 4 hours. I am a phone call away for your plumber at 800-460-5810. If you would rather do it yourself, text me at 443-277-2204 with any questions.

On Tampa city water and not sure what you need?

Text me your household size

Tell me how many people live there and what bothers you (the smell, the spots, or both). I will tell you which system fits, or that you do not need one.

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Frequently asked questions

Sources

• City of Tampa Water Department, 2025 Water Quality Report: source water (p.3), treatment, pH, hardness and fluoride (p.7), service line inventory (p.12), data tables (pp.13 to 14).
• City of Tampa, Water System Maintenance and its September 2026 notice: the three-week switches to chlorine and the carbon filter advice.
• CDC, Home Pool and Hot Tub Water Treatment and Testing: at least 1 ppm free chlorine in pools, at least 3 ppm in hot tubs.
• EPA, Chloramines in Drinking Water.
• USGS Water Science School, Hardness of Water: hardness classes and effects.
• EPA WaterSense, How We Use Water: more than 300 gallons a day per family, about 70 percent indoors.
• Thomas et al., PLoS Medicine 2011: ion-exchange water softeners for eczema in children.
• The 135 lb figure: 210 gallons a day x 3.785 liters per gallon x 211 mg/L x 365 days, about 61 kg (135 lb) as calcium carbonate.