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1. What is a CCR?

The Consumer Confidence Report, or CCR, is an annual water quality report that a community water system is required to provide to its customers. The CCR helps people make informed choices about the water they drink. They let people know what contaminants, if any, are in their drinking water and how these contaminants may affect their health. CCRs also give the system a chance to tell customers what it takes to deliver safe drinking water.

2. Are all public water systems required to provide CCRs to their customers?

Only community water systems that serve the same people year-round provide CCRs to their customers. If your water supplier is a noncommunity system, contact your utility for drinking water quality information.

3. How do renters get water quality information about their drinking water?

A community water system must make a good faith effort to reach consumers who do not get water bills, such as renters or workers. An adequate good faith effort would include a mix of methods appropriate to the particular system, such as: posting the reports on the internet, mailing reports to postal patrons in metropolitan areas, advertising the availability of the report in the news media, publishing the report in a local newspaper, posting the report in public places such as cafeterias or lunch rooms of public buildings, delivering multiple copies of the report for distribution by single-billed customers such as apartment buildings, nursing homes, schools, or large private employers and community organizations.

4. How do people served by non-community water systems get water quality information about their drinking water?

If your water supplier is a public water system, but not a community water system, contact the utility for water quality information.

5. Why does the current CCR contain results from previous calendar years?

Federal regulations require that if a system is allowed to monitor for regulated contaminants less often than once a year, the table must include the date and results of the most recent sampling. Thus, the table in the CCR may reflect the date and result of the last samples taken.

6. Why do I get a CCR?

Every community water system (CWS) is required by law to provide its customers with a water quality report also known as a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) by July 1st of each year. This report lists the regulated contaminants the CWS detected in treated water and the level at which they were found for the preceding calendar year.

7. Does the annual water quality report indicate there is something wrong with the water, or that it’s unsafe?

The CCR is a general overall overview of the water quality delivered by your community water system. This report lists the regulated contaminants the CWS detected in the treated water and the level at which they were found for the preceding calendar year.

8. What do all of these abbreviations mean?

• MCL: Maximum contaminant level: the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the maximum contaminant level goals as feasible using the best available treatment technology.
• MCLG: Maximum contaminant level goal: the level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.
• TT: Treatment technique: a required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.
• AL: Action level: the concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.
• Variances and Exemptions: State or EPA permission not to meet an MCL or a treatment technique under certain conditions.
• MRDLG: Maximum residual disinfection level goal. The level or a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.
• MRDL: Maximum residual disinfectant level. The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.
• MNR: Monitored not regulated.
• MPL: State assigned maximum permissible level.

9. Why did my CCR contain information on cryptosporidium?

A section concerning cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants is required in all CCRs to provide information for severely weakened immune (immunocompromised) systems, such as individuals with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV / AIDS or other immune system disorders, some elderly and infants. The section does not indicate the presence of cryptosporidium in drinking water. Visit A joint EPA and CDC guidance document for people who are immunocompromised.

10. Does my public water system treat the water for cryptosporidium?

Contact your water system to inquire about its cryptosporidium removal practices.

11. Should I be concerned about cryptosporidium in my drinking water?

Current EPA drinking water standards are designed to assure 99% removal or killing of Cryptosporidium. People who have severely weakened immune systems (immunocompromised) are more high-risk to infection than the general population and may want to take extra precautions. These include pregnant women, infants, the elderly, people with HIV / AIDS, organ transplants, and people on cancer therapy. Cryptosporidiosis is not treatable with antibiotics, so prevention of infection is critical. People with weakened immune systems will have cryptosporidiosis for a longer period of time, and it could become life-threatening. Young children, pregnant women, or the elderly infected with cryptosporidiosis can quickly become severely dehydrated.

EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed guidance for severely immunocompromised people. Such individuals should consult with their health care provider about what measures would be most appropriate and effective for reducing their overall risk of Cryptosporidium and other types of infection. Visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Ground Water and Drinking Water for information on health effects and concerns.

12. What can I do if I am more sensitive to contaminants or more at risk to infections than the general population?

Seek advice from your health care provider.

13. Is there a safe level of lead in drinking water for children?

Environmental Protection Agency has set the maximum contaminant level goal for lead at zero because lead is a toxic metal that can be harmful to human health even at low exposure levels. Lead is persistent, and it can bio-accumulate in the body over time. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends intervention when the level of lead in a child’s blood is 10 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL) or greater. It is important to recognize all the ways a child can be exposed to lead. Children are exposed to lead in paint, dust, soil, air, and food, as well as drinking water. Therefore, the amount of lead a child can be exposed to in drinking water before exceeding the recommended blood level depends upon the amount of lead coming from these other sources. Young children, infants, and fetuses are particularly vulnerable to lead because the physical and behavioral effects of lead occur at lower exposure levels in children than in adults. A dose of lead that would have little effect on an adult can have a significant effect on a child. In children, low levels of exposure have been linked to damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, learning disabilities, shorter stature, impaired hearing, and impaired formation and function of blood cells. For additional information about lead in drinking water visit the Environmental Protection Agency.

14. Why is the Safe Drinking Water Hotline’s 800 number listed in the report if the Hotline cannot provide local water quality information?

Systems area required to provide a name and telephone contact at the water system who can answer questions about the report. In addition, a toll free number for EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline provides general information about CCRs and other safe drinking water issues. The hotline can also direct callers to more sources of information, and can help people to understand the purpose and language of the CCRs.