[8] The freshwater snail Physella acuta is common in all of North America and Europe including the United Kingdom.

[17] The distribution includes the United States east of the Rocky Mountains[8] This species lives in freshwater rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and swamps.

[17] Physella acuta is frequently found in anthropogenic reservoirs, occurring in warm water discharges from power stations and in some rivers, but very rarely and not numerously in clay pit ponds.

It can survive well under temporary harsh conditions (extreme temperature and water pollution), as long as they are short-lived.

[7] This species successfully co-exists with other alien gastropods: for example with Potamopyrgus antipodarum in many streams, lakes and ponds in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom; and with Lithoglyphus naticoides in the Danube River.

[26] P. acuta is one of a variety of snails often called "pest snails" in freshwater fishkeeping, due to their tendency to be inadvertently introduced into tanks via hitching a ride on ornamental plants, combined with how readily and quickly they reproduce due in part to their ability to self-fertilize.

Others will however intentionally keep bladder snails, as their diet and ease of care can prove to make them a useful part of a tank's clean-up crew.