Bloomington -vs- Normal Water Supply pH Parameters

Receiving the Annual Consumer Report on the Quality of Tap Water from the city got me thinking of this.  We've talked about this before, but I'm wondering if there really is much of a difference between the pH of water from Bloomington vs Normal.

Bloomington's (latest) 2013 Water Quality Report states an average pH of 8.9.  Normal's (latest) 2014 Water Quality Report doesn't list a pH I could find so I called the Town of Normal's water department and they transferred me to a guy that deals with the parameters.  He seemed a bit concerned when I asked about the pH, and asked me if I could tell him why I wanted to know.  He thawed out quite a bit when I explained I was just an aquarium hobbyist (and not an EPA spy, I suppose).  He said Normal's water sources are all well water (versus Bloominton's which is all surface water) and that the average final pH is 9.2.

I thought previously some had said that Normal's pH was around 7.0 out of the tap?  I tested the water straight from my tap today and it seems consistent with the reported pH.  I'm just curious if the pH of Normal's water supply out of the tap is really that much different?



As an aside, but concerning water quality, here is an interesting study on the upper Illinois water basin if you're interested.  It does have some comments about effects on local fish communities in the wild, even if it is a tad outdated.  SURFACE-WATER-QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF THE UPPER ILLINOIS RIVER BASIN IN ILLINOIS, INDIANA, AND WISCONSIN--RESULTS OF INVESTIGATIONS THROUGH APRIL 1992

I just got my water report a couple weeks ago, I know it's laying around here somewhere. I think it's at 7.2. I don't know who told you that Normal had a high ph, it's oddly enough much lower than Bloomingtons. Hence why my wild bettas breed like mad...  

The paper copy they sent out was different than the online posted, which states it is the 2013 report on page seven, then on the rest of the pages it is labelled as 2014? So these are the test results done in 2013? but not released till 2014? Hmm they need to get there stuff straight.   

My PH out of the tap in Normal is in the mid-high 7's. By the time I treat it and let it warm up in my prep tanks (~24 hours), it's closer to 7.

Hmmm.... I wonder why that guy at the Normal Water Dept. would tell me the pH was that high if it's not? Maybe it "settles" or "adjusts" more towards neutral once it gets into the homes? I only called them and asked to satisfy my curiosity. You see how well that worked.    The world may never know...   

I bet if several of us called and asked...we'd get a different answer each time. Now I'm curious. I might have to put that theory to test...  

And let us know...