Can I Use Tap Water for Hummingbird Nectar?

The short answer

• Use the water you drink. City tap water is fine: EPA caps chlorine and chloramine at 4.0 mg/L and fluoride at 4.0 mg/L in public water.
• Skip salt-softened water. A softener adds about 50 mg/L of sodium for every 100 mg/L of hardness it takes out (Alberta Agriculture). Use a cold tap that bypasses the softener, or plain bottled water.
• Boiling does not remove sodium. It boils off water and leaves the salt behind, so softened water gets saltier in the pan.
• Distilled and reverse osmosis water are fine. The warning against them has no source behind it: hummingbirds get protein, fats and electrolytes from insects (Audubon).
• Well water you drink is fine. EPA advises testing a private well every year for coliform bacteria, nitrates, dissolved solids and pH.

Yes, you can use tap water for hummingbird nectar, as long as it is water you would drink and it has not run through a salt water softener. That covers city water, tested well water, bottled water and distilled water. Softened water is the one to skip. If your house has a softener, use a cold tap that bypasses it. Alberta Agriculture advises plumbing the kitchen cold tap that way.

Boiling does not fix softened water. It drives off water and leaves the salt behind.

What each kind of water means here#

Four words carry this whole question, so here they are in plain terms.

• Hard water carries dissolved calcium and magnesium picked up from rock. Alberta Agriculture counts water as hard from 200 to 400 mg/L, or 12 to 23 grains per gallon, measured as calcium carbonate.
• Softened water has been through an ion exchange softener. That is a tank of resin beads charged with sodium from softener salt. As hard water passes through, the beads grab the calcium and magnesium and give up sodium in their place.
• Distilled water has been boiled to steam and cooled back to liquid, which leaves nearly all minerals behind. Reverse osmosis water is pushed through a fine membrane and comes out much the same.
• Chlorinated water is city water with a little chlorine added to kill germs. Some cities use chloramine instead, which is chlorine combined with ammonia.

So "softened" does not mean "gentler." It means calcium and magnesium out, sodium in.

Which water to use#

The rest of this page is the reason behind each row.

City water: chlorine, chloramine and fluoride#

Public water in the US runs under hard caps. EPA sets the most chlorine or chloramine allowed in tap water at 4.0 mg/L. It sets the most fluoride allowed at 4.0 mg/L. Water that meets those limits meets the federal standard for the water people drink.

House Digest warns that even trace chlorine could "upset the birds' digestion." It names no study and no expert for that, and we found nothing to support it. Letting water stand on the counter is harmless if it makes you feel better, but it is not a step the recipe needs.

When you mix 4:1 nectar, the water is diluted by the sugar. Whatever is in your tap ends up a little weaker in the feeder, not stronger.

Softened water: the number nobody gives#

Here is the figure the other pages on this question leave out. Alberta Agriculture says a salt softener adds "approximately 50 mg/L sodium per 100 mg/L of hardness." EPA notes that home softeners "can increase sodium levels to more than 300 mg/L."

Our own shortcut from that ratio: one grain per gallon is about 17.1 mg/L. So the softener adds about 8.5 mg/L of sodium for every grain of hardness on your water test or softener dial.

Is that a lot? Compare it with what EPA counts as normal. In a national survey of 989 public groundwater systems, the median sodium level was 16.4 mg/L. EPA advises no more than 20 mg/L for people on a very low salt diet, and 30 to 60 mg/L so that water does not taste salty.

There is no study of softened water in a hummingbird feeder, and this page does not claim harm it cannot show. The case for skipping it is simpler than that. Nothing in a nectar feeder needs salt. And the fix costs nothing. Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman, writing in Birds & Blooms, say softeners raise the salt "at least by a little" and suggest bottled water if you have no unsoftened tap.

A batch of nectar, worked through#

Take a home on well water at 300 mg/L of hardness, which is about 17.5 grains per gallon. That is inside Alberta Agriculture's "hard" band. Suppose the water starts at 16.4 mg/L of sodium, the EPA survey median, and runs through a salt softener. Here is what one batch of 4:1 nectar would carry.

1. Sodium added. At 50 mg/L per 100 mg/L of hardness, 300 mg/L of hardness adds about 150 mg/L. The water now holds about 166 mg/L.
2. Water in the batch. The recipe calls for 4 cups, which is about 0.95 L.
3. Sodium in the softened batch. 166 mg/L times 0.95 L is about 157 mg.
4. Sodium from the unsoftened tap. 16.4 mg/L times 0.95 L is about 16 mg.
5. Now boil it. Suppose you boil off 1 cup of the 4. The sodium stays, so the 3 cups left carry about a third more per cup.

That is our arithmetic, built on the published figures. The same sugar, the same feeder, and about ten times the sodium, from nothing but the choice of tap. The softened water alone, at about 166 mg/L, is more than eight times EPA's 20 mg/L level for low salt diets.

Why boiling does not help#

Boiling kills germs. It does not take out anything dissolved. Water leaves as steam, and the sodium stays behind in less water. WDG Public Health, an Ontario health unit, puts it plainly: boiling, or a charcoal filter such as a pitcher filter, "does not remove sodium."

This matters because many recipes tell you to boil the water. For dissolving sugar that is fine, as the nectar recipe explains. But if you start with softened water, boiling makes it saltier, not safer.

Distilled water: the warning with no source#

Several pages say to avoid distilled water. Their reason is that hummingbirds need the minerals in tap water. House Digest makes that claim and cites nothing. In the same article it says insects are hummingbirds' main source of minerals, which undercuts its own warning. Another House Digest page on tap water then recommends purified bottled water, which is close kin to distilled.

The Kaufmans note that real flower nectar "does contain traces of natural salts." That is true. A 2024 field study in Ecology and Evolution calls sodium a micronutrient found "in low concentrations in nectar." But a trace in a flower is not proof that a bird needs it from a feeder. We looked for a study showing hummingbirds need minerals from nectar and found none.

What the sources do say points the other way. Audubon says spiders and tiny insects give hummingbirds protein, fats, electrolytes and macronutrients "they just can't get from nectar alone." Nectar is the fuel. The rest of the diet comes on legs.

So distilled water is fine, and so is reverse osmosis water. If you already buy it, use it. There is no reason to buy it either.

The one bottled water to pass over is the kind with something added. Even House Digest, in its tap water article, says to avoid bottles with flavors, vitamins or added minerals. Nectar is sugar and water and nothing more.

Well water#

Treat well water the way you treat it at your own table. EPA advises testing a private well every year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and pH. It advises testing more often if young children or older adults live in the house. A well that passes is fine for nectar. A well you would not drink from is not fine for the feeder, and boiling it will not remove dissolved salts.

EPA notes that groundwater typically carries more minerals and salts than surface water, so well water is often hard. If yours runs through a softener, the softener check above applies too.

What this answer does not cover#

No study has tested softened water, chlorine or distilled water in hummingbirds, so the rulings here rest on what the water holds, not on a feeding trial. The sodium gain is a rule of thumb from one agency guide. Your own softener may run higher or lower, and a water test will tell you your hardness. We could not read the 1983 paper most often cited for salt levels in hummingbird flowers, so this page gives no figure for flower nectar. Potassium chloride softener salt swaps in potassium instead of sodium, and no source we found looked at it for nectar. The unsoftened tap avoids that question. Outside the US, use your own country's drinking water limits. Whatever water you use, the nectar still spoils on the same clock. Keep to the change schedule in the nectar recipe and the cleaning steps in how to clean a bird feeder.

Questions that come next#

Is homemade still worth it if I have to buy bottled water? Yes. A gallon of plain water makes four batches of 4 cups each, and sugar is the cheap part. The full cost case is in homemade vs store-bought nectar.

How much should I make? Only what the birds drink before the next change. The nectar calculator sizes a batch to your feeder, and how many hummingbirds at my feeder turns the amount they drink into a head count.

What about honey, brown sugar or dye? None of them belong in a feeder, and each is covered in what not to feed birds.

Why is my feeder dripping? That is warm air in the bottle, not the water you used. See hummingbird feeder leaking. If ants found the drip, ants on hummingbird feeders has the fix.

What about frost? The choice of water does not change the winter answer. In the West, where Anna's Hummingbird stays all year, the temperatures are in when hummingbird nectar freezes.

Myths like the distilled water warning tend to travel together. A few more are sorted out in bird feeding myths.

Frequently asked questions#

Can I use tap water for hummingbird nectar?

Yes, if it is water you would drink and it has not been through a salt water softener. Public water in the US must keep chlorine and chloramine at or under 4.0 mg/L and fluoride at or under 4.0 mg/L, which are EPA's enforceable limits. Mix it 4:1 with plain white sugar as usual. If your house has a softener, use the cold kitchen tap if it bypasses the softener, or bottled water.

Is softened water bad for hummingbirds?

It is the one household water to keep out of the feeder. An ion exchange softener swaps the calcium and magnesium in hard water for sodium from salt. Alberta Agriculture puts the gain at about 50 mg/L of sodium for every 100 mg/L of hardness removed, and EPA notes home softeners can push sodium past 300 mg/L. No study has measured what that does to a hummingbird, but nothing in a feeder needs salt, and an unsoftened tap costs nothing.

Can I use distilled water for hummingbird nectar?

Yes. The pages that warn against it say hummingbirds need minerals from nectar, and none of them cites a source. We found none either. Audubon says insects and spiders give hummingbirds protein, fats and electrolytes they cannot get from nectar alone. Distilled, reverse osmosis and plain purified bottled water all make good 4:1 nectar.

Does boiling water remove the salt from softened water?

No. Boiling turns water into steam, and the sodium stays in the pan. WDG Public Health, an Ontario health unit, says boiling does not remove sodium, and neither does a charcoal pitcher filter. Boil off a quarter of the water and what is left carries a third more sodium per cup than before.

Should I let tap water sit out to remove chlorine first?

There is no need. Tap water within EPA's 4.0 mg/L limit meets the federal standard for drinking water, and no source we found shows that limit harms a hummingbird. Standing water also does nothing to sodium, so it is no fix for softened water.

Can I use well water for hummingbird nectar?

Yes, if you drink it and the well is tested. EPA advises testing a private well every year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and pH. If the well water is not safe for you to drink, it is not safe for the feeder. Many well houses also run a softener, so check which tap you are using.

Is bottled spring water better for hummingbirds?

Not better, just a good backup. Plain bottled drinking water or spring water works when your only tap is softened, which is what Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman suggest in Birds & Blooms. Skip any bottle with added flavor, vitamins or electrolytes. Nectar is sugar and water and nothing else.

Sources and further reading

1. Water Softening (Agdex 716(D32), revised August 2011) Alberta Agriculture Ion exchange resin charged with sodium from salt; the sodium increase will be approximately 50 mg/L per 100 mg/L of hardness; bypass the softener for the kitchen cold tap; hardness table, hard is 200 to 400 mg/L (12 to 23 gpg)
2. National Primary Drinking Water Regulations U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Chlorine and chloramines MRDL 4.0 mg/L as Cl2; fluoride MCL 4.0 mg/L; sodium not listed
3. Drinking Water Advisory: Consumer Acceptability Advice and Health Effects Analysis on Sodium (EPA 822-R-03-006) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, February 2003 20 mg/L guidance for people on a 500 mg/day sodium diet; 30 to 60 mg/L for taste; home softeners can raise sodium to more than 300 mg/L; median sodium in 989 groundwater systems 16.4 mg/L
4. Sodium in Drinking Water Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health Boiling or charcoal filtration such as a pitcher filter does not remove sodium; use a separate unsoftened supply for cooking and drinking; potassium as an alternative softener salt
5. Protect Your Home's Water U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Test a private well annually for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and pH
6. What Do Hummingbirds Really Eat in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming? Audubon Rockies, 8 May 2025 Spiders and tiny insects give hummingbirds protein, fats, electrolytes and macronutrients they cannot get from nectar alone
7. Is salt-softened water dangerous for hummingbird food? Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman, Birds & Blooms, updated 27 July 2023 Softeners raise the salt content of water; flower nectar contains traces of natural salts; buy bottled water if there is no unsoftened tap
8. The easy-to-make mistake to avoid when feeding the hummingbirds in your yard House Digest, 5 July 2024 Claims trace chlorine could upset birds' digestion, with no source; recommends purified bottled water; avoid bottled water with added flavors, vitamins or minerals
9. Why using distilled water in DIY hummingbird nectar is a bad idea House Digest The distilled water warning; says insects are hummingbirds' main source of minerals and cites no source for a need for minerals in nectar
10. Sodium-enriched nectar shapes plant-pollinator interactions in a subalpine meadow VanValkenburg et al., Ecology and Evolution, 2024 (open access) Describes sodium as a micronutrient in low concentrations in floral nectar