A Consumer Confidence Report is an annual summary issued by any community water system that serves more than 25 people. The purpose of this report is to provide proof to every American that their community-supplied drinking water meets the appropriate standards of purity and healthfulness.
This report is required by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act that was passed in 1974 and amended in 1986 and 1996. By accessing your own community’s Consumer Confidence Report each year, you can stay informed about your home’s water quality and know if there are any improvements you should make in your water supply.
How Can You Access Your Community’s CCR?
If you are a homeowner, you may receive a mailed or emailed copy of this report or your water bill may provide a link to enable you to access the report online. Anyone can go directly to the website for a utility and look for the Consumer Confidence Report. If that doesn’t work, do an internet search for “(your utility name) Consumer Confidence Report.” If all else fails, call the Customer Service number on your water bill and ask how to access this report.
Why Is Your Annual CCR Important?
Water quality is so essential to health that it is federal law that each person served by these utilities has a right to see these annual results. Your access to this report enables you to verify that your community’s water meets certain basic criteria of purity and cleanliness. It also keeps water utilities accountable to their communities.
The results of these tests also enable federal bodies like the Environmental Protection Agency to monitor water quality. The EPA has set enforcement limits on many common contaminants that could harm the health of consumers.
Where Does the Annual CCR Fall Short?
There are three reasons that some water customers might feel the report is insufficient.
- Even though specific contaminant levels may meet EPA standards, some people may feel these levels are too high to be healthy. There are states that have stricter regulations than the EPA. The State of California, for example, recommends limits for some contaminants that are lower than the limits set by the EPA. The EPA standard for hexavalent chromium (chromium-6—think Erin Brockovich) is 100 parts per billion. California’s standard for this water contaminant is 10 parts per billion. You might feel reassured to learn that a particular contaminant measures at below-EPA limits. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the contaminant level is so low that no harm to health occurs.
- The EPA may not regulate all the contaminants that individuals might want removed from drinking water. For example, California standards state that the industrial chemical 1,2,3-Trichloropropane must not exceed 5 parts per trillion in drinking water. The EPA does not regulate this cancer-causing chemical. Therefore, it will not appear in your CCR. In another example, the EPA only recently began setting standards for the quantity of PFAS in drinking water, a type of contaminant that has been a great concern to many people for years. (PFAS is an acronym for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, industrial chemicals used in non-stick and stain-resistant materials.) Many people are concerned about the presence of PFAS in drinking water. Their standards may be more stringent than the EPA’s.
- Some households may have special needs for their water quality. They may have someone in the household who is immunocompromised, perhaps receiving chemotherapy or with a chronic health challenge like HIV. Or there may be a new baby or an elderly person in the house. These people may need a higher quality of water than that served by the utility.
If you are concerned about the quality of your water or someone in your home is particularly sensitive to contaminants, get familiar with your CCR and review it annually.
What Can You Learn from Your CCR?
There are many categories of data presented in each CCR your water utility publishes. Check out the types of data listed below.
- Water source information: Did your water originate in a lake or river (and which one)? Or did it come from a well or another utility?
- Which contaminants are present at what levels and what are the ideal and legal limits for each of those contaminants?
- Does each contaminant exceed the EPA standards?
- Where could that contaminant come from (industry, agriculture, naturally occurring, etc.)?
- What health issues could result from contamination by any particular contaminant?
The information provided by your utility is going to cover the basic answers to these questions. Some additional information may be provided, such as the importance of eliminating lead from drinking water. It’s going to be up to you to determine if your community water meets your standards. And that starts with understanding the possible effects of different contaminants.
If you have questions about the nature or effects of different contaminants, you are welcome to consult our comprehensive contaminant glossary. More than 200 different contaminants are described, along with the health effects they may cause.
What Other Information Might You Need About Your Water in Addition to This Report?
You won’t receive an analysis of the water coming out of your tap, only a report on the quality of water served to utility customers. A home’s plumbing system can add additional contaminants, especially if the home and its plumbing system are older. Aging pipes, lead solder, corrosion resulting from acidic water—all these factors and more can add contaminants to the drinking water in your home. You will need a test of your own tap water to get the full story.
Also, if you have anyone with special water purity needs, you may need to know the results of a far more detailed water test. You may want to request your own professional water test that looks for substances like these:
- Pharmaceuticals
- Microplastics
- Many pesticides and herbicides not regulated by the EPA
- New chemicals of concern, such as the industrial chemical 1,4-dioxane, solvents and flame retardants
- Endocrine disruptors like bisphenol A (BPA)
Why Is the MCL so Important?
The MCL is the Maximum Contaminant Level for any specific contaminant. This is the legal limit for any contaminant. It’s usually measured in parts per million, parts per billion or even parts per trillion. This is the limit the EPA set to prevent water from creating health problems.
Any water system found to have contaminants above this level must correct its systems to bring the levels of those contaminants down.
What Is an MCLG and Why Is it Also Important?
An MCLG is the Maximum Contaminant Level Goal, which is a public health goal that is not enforceable. This is the level below which no known health risk exists for any particular contaminant. It may be different from the MCL because the technology does not yet exist to purify the water to that level or to detect the substance at that enormous dilution. It may also cost so much to reduce that contaminant to that level that it is unrealistic to expect it of public utilities. For example, the MCLG (goal) for the total count of coliform bacteria (which includes E. coli and many others) is zero. The MCL for total coliform is a little different. The EPA requires that coliform bacteria not be found in more than 5% of a utility’s samples taken each month.
What About Well Owners Who Don’t Receive Water from a Utility?
A well owner is responsible for monitoring the quality of their own water. The EPA does not monitor or regulate the quality of well water, but the same quality standards should be maintained by any well owners. This can be achieved by regularly testing a home’s well water supply using a professional water testing service.
What else doesn’t the CCR report on? Might it be important?
There are literally hundreds of industrial, agricultural or naturally occurring contaminants that make their way into drinking water that won’t show up in your utility’s analysis. These are chemicals like benzene, toluene, naphthalene, vinyl chloride, tetrachloroethane, diazinon, alachor, endrin and many, many others. You may have heard of a few of these. They are cleaning and industrial solvents, ingredients used in making plastics, pesticides or herbicides that have been or are still being manufactured and used. Some of them cause cancer, even at low levels. They exist in our soil, air and water. If they are present in your community or well water, you should know so you can take action to remove them.
How Can Well Owners Ensure That Their Water Is Pure and Healthy?
If a home has a well that has never been tested, a comprehensive water test should be done as a first action. Once any correction is made to eliminate health or quality hazards, that well water should again be tested annually. A well is a very dynamic thing, affected by extremes of weather, construction, industrial or agricultural operations nearby (or even far away), well repairs or inspections, aging pumps, plumbing equipment and more. A well that tests clean this year may experience deterioration by next year.
Actually, a well should get at least a limited basic test after floods, heavy snow melt, landscaping, repairs, new industrial or agricultural activities nearby or any other activity that might compromise the integrity of the well. The other time to get well water tested is if anyone in the home experiences unexplained or extended health problems.
What Can You Do if Your Community or Well Water Doesn’t Meet Your Standards?
There are filtration or water treatment systems that can correct a wide variety of problems. The process of correcting your water supply starts with knowing exactly what is in your water. The different types of filters—charcoal, reverse osmosis, ion exchange and others—have specific applications. There are also systems that eliminate bacteria and parasites, like distillation and ultraviolet treatment.
You need to know exactly what you are trying to remove before designing a filtration, purification or disinfection system for your home. Start with a comprehensive test and then consult a company that provides these systems. Give them a copy of your results and tailor the system to your contaminants. It is possible to buy a system that removes the wrong contaminants or that is more expensive than you need, so start with accurate, professional test results.
Is Having a Water Softener Good Enough?
A water softener is only designed to remove calcium and magnesium, the minerals that create buildup on your plumbing fixtures and inside your plumbing pipes. It may also remove copper, iron and manganese, though not as effectively. It might remove some radium. It will not remove bacteria, viruses, industrial chemicals, pesticides, PFAS or other substances you might want to eliminate from your water.
Are Home Improvement Store Water Tests Good Enough?
These tests offer very limited help. They typically only check for a handful of contaminants, maybe ten or twelve. They generally only provide a positive/negative result for such contaminants as bacteria or lead. You can’t get a measurement of how much of a particular contaminant is present in your water. If you really want to know what’s in your water, only a professional water test will do.
How ETR Laboratories Can Help You Maintain the Highest Standards of Water Quality.
ETR Laboratories provides fast, accurate, professional water testing. For many years, our complete laboratory has been providing water testing results to individuals, well owners, municipalities and industries that rely on pure water. When you order water tests online, you may be ordering from a middleman who sends their tests on to us, which delays your results. Order water tests from us directly and you can have your results emailed or mailed back to you in just a few days. (There are a few tests that may take a little longer.)
We offer a comprehensive water test that checks for 249 contaminants or water attributes and a basic water test that looks for 53 substances. Don’t be in the dark about what’s in your community or well water. Order a professional water test now.
