Consumer Confidence Reporting Ouida W. Meier, Ph.D. Technical Assistance Center for Water Quality, W.K.U.

“There shall be no man or woman dare to wash any unclean linen, wash clothes, nor rinse or make clean any kettle, pot or pan, or any suchlike vessel within twenty feet of the old well or new pump. Nor shall anyone aforesaid within less than a quarter mile of the fort, dare to do the necessities of nature, since by these unmanly, slothful, and loathsome immodesties, the whole fort may be choked and poisoned.” - Lord Delaware’s proclamation to Jamestown, 1610

Consumer Confidence Reporting Mandated by SDWA amendments Centerpiece of public right-to-know Requires community water systems to prepare and provide to their customers annual reports on the quality of the water delivered by the systems

Consumer Confidence Reporting EPA’s Intent: raise consumer awareness promote dialogue, involvement informed decision-making key to further information

Water system contact: phone no., meetings Source water: type, local name, location Definitions Detected contaminants, levels, likely source Turbidity, coliform bacteria, fecal coliform Violations of MCL, TT, M/R, filtration, disinfection, recordkeeping : clearly indicated, explained, violation length, potential adverse health effects (verbatim), corrective actions Add’l health info. (As, Pb, nitrate, TTHM) EPA SDW Hotline CCR: Required Information

CCR Distribution Population served > 100,000 MUST put report on accessible internet site Population served > 10,000 MUST mail to customers Population served < 10,000 (mailing req.waived) Notice by mail; or Publish in local newspaper(s), Inform customers reports will not be mailed, Reports available upon request Population served <500 Notice by mail, door-to-door delivery, or post that report available upon request Good faith effort to notify non-bill-paying customers

CCR Dates All community water systems must submit their first report to customers by: Oct. 19, 1999 (for calendar year 1998) July 1, 2000 (for calendar year 1999) July 1 annually (subsequent years) Certification 3 months after report distributed

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EPA (federal) DOW (state) Water Systems (community) Water Consumers (individuals) regulation regulation, enforcement

EPA (federal) DOW (state) Water Systems (community) Water Consumers (individuals) regulation regulation, enforcement Information Feedback loops become self-regulating, self-enforcing