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The right
to know requirement is a centerpiece of the 1996 amendments to the
federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The US EPA proposed the final Consumer
Confidence Rule on August 19, 1998. The Rule establishes requirements
for developing Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) - content and format
- as well as distribution requirements.
Starting in
1999 owners of all community water systems will be required to prepare
and distribute the annual Consumer Confidence Report to their customers.
The report must contain information about what contaminants are
in the water as well as sources of water. These reports may be a
great opportunity for owners of community water systems to help
consumers make informed choices that may affect their health and
encourage consumers to consider challenges that system owners, operators,
managers and supporting staff face to deliver safe drinking water.
The informed customer is more likely to help support efforts to
protect the public drinking water supplies sources and will have
a better understanding of the increasing need to upgrade, repair,
or replace treatment facilities that continue to make the water
safe to drink.
Every community
public water supply system that serves at least 25 residences year
round or has 15 service connections must prepare and distribute
a CCR once each year. If a community sells water to another community
public water supply, the selling system must provide the purchasing
systems with the necessary information by April 19, 1999 so that
the purchaser public water supply has necessary information to prepare
their CCR. The first CCR must be developed and distributed to consumers
by October 19, 1999. Future CCRs will be prepared and distributed
by July 1 of each year and will contain information regarding water
quality monitoring for the preceding 12 months. Each community public
water system must certify to the state how the CCR was distributed
to customers and other individuals that consume water within three
months following the time that the CCR was distributed, but no later
than January 19, 2000 for the first CCR and no later than October
1 for each subsequent year. 40 CFR 141.155(g) of the Consumer Confidence
Rule allows the governor of the state to waive the mailing requirements
for systems serving less than 10,000 individuals. Governor Cecil
H. Underwood has signed a letter advising US EPA that has waived
the mailing requirement. Community water systems serving fewer than
10,000, but more than 5,000, individuals will be required to publish
the report in a local newspaper once and make it available to individuals
upon request. Systems serving less than 500 persons must provide
notification of the report availability to their consumers. Even
though the Governor has waived the mailing requirement, systems
serving less than 10,000 population may wish to consider mailing
the CCR to their consumers. Distribution, other than mailing, is
permitted for small systems providing they document method of distribution
and certify that distribution was performed.
The brief
annual report to the community water supply consumers, and others
who drink the water, must summarize information that each community
water system is required to collect to comply with the Safe Drinking
Water Act. Owners will not be required to conduct additional monitoring
just for CCR. The CCR will contain basic information on the sources
of the drinking water, the levels of any contaminant in the water,
information on compliance with other drinking water rules, and some
brief educational information regarding Source Water Protection.
It is expected that most CCR will fit on one sheet of a page printed
on both sides.
The CCR must
contain a minimal amount of information including:
- Water system
information
- Name/phone
number of contact person
- Information
for non-English speaking populations
- Information
on public participation opportunities
- Sources
of the water
- Type,
location, and name(s) of water sources
- Availability
of source water assessments
- If
available, source water susceptibility information
- Definitions:
MCL, MCLG, and if needed TT, AL and Variances or Exemptions
- Levels
of detected contaminants
Likely source(s) for each
detected contaminant
- Information
on compliance with drinking water regulations
- Explanation
of violations, potential health effects and steps by the PWS
to correct the violations
- If
applicable, explanation of variance/exemption
- Required
educational information
- Explanation
of contaminants and their presence in drinking water
- Warning
for vulnerable populations about Cryptosporidium
- If
needed, informational statements on arsenic, nitrate, and
lead
CCR should
also contain:
- Graphs,
pictures, or other visual representations to help consumers understand
the information.
- What is
being done to treat the water to make it safe to drink.
- If applicable,
additional monitoring performed.
- Information
on present and future needs for more water or treatment to meet
growing or new requirements.
- Information
on the operators and their training.
- In applicable,
a statement at the beginning of the report that the water meets
all the standards.
- If applicable,
efforts being taken by the system to improve water quality and
public relations, such as the Partnership for Safe Water or Quality
on Tap.
- The report
title can be Consumer Confidence Report, Water Quality Report,
Annual Report or no title whatsoever.
Information
Packet
The following
is the download file for the Consumber Confidence Report templates and
instructions. The file format is Microsoft WORD
The following
is the download file for the Electronic Consumber Confidence Report forms and
instructions. The file format is PDF
Further
Information
Further information,
examples, and instructions concerning CCR's is available from the
EPA Safe Drinking
Water Site. This site also provides a downloadable version of
the federal register section on the CCR's (40CFR
Parts 141 and 142, PDF).
If you have
any remaining questions about the CCR's or how to complete it for
your water system, please contact
Daniel
Parker at the EED.
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