Directions for Completing
Your Consumer Confidence Report Using the Template
This template is designed to
assist you in creating your Consumer
Confidence Report (CCR). It allows you the flexibility needed for the
specific requirements of your utility.
The CCR requires that certain items and specific language be included in
all reports. These items are clearly marked in the template. Throughout this template you are given
several carefully worded choices in order to “personalize” your utility’s report to
your customers. Please consider carefully what you wish to say. How you say something to your customers
is as important as what you say. Take advantage of this regulation to put
forth a positive public relations image of your system, the quality of the
product you serve and the professionalism of your board and
personnel.
These directions will guide
you through the template. It allows you the opportunity to choose what you want
to say from the accompanying Consumer
Confidence Report Template. The template is designed to be used in one of
three ways:
1. To delete the
undesired language.
2. To copy and paste
using your own word processing software.
3. To manually type in
the desired selections.
Each State Primacy Agency
may require state specific language that may not be included in this template.
State specific language may be obtained from your State Primacy Agency. Call
them or your State Rural Water Association for assistance.
If you have obtained a
diskette from your state rural water association, we recommend you make a backup
copy of this disk for file.
As you consider the choices
in the template, pay close attention to the difference between violations and
detects. Detects are required to be reported however do not require as much
detailed information as a violation of a maximum contaminant level
(MCL).
Report Delivery and Record
Keeping.
1.
Each community water system
must mail or otherwise home-deliver one copy of the report to each customer. The
first report must be delivered by October 1999. The report must contain data
collected during or prior to calendar year 1998. The second report must be
delivered by July 1, 2000 and subsequent reports by July 1
annually.
2. The system must make a good faith
effort to reach consumers who do not get water bills, using means recommended by
the primacy agency. For example the system could post the report in a public
place such as a post office or the internet.
3. A community water system that
sells water to another community water system must deliver the applicable
information to the buyer system no later than April 1999 and by April 1, 2000.
Then by April 1 annually or on a date mutually agreed upon by the seller and
purchaser, and specifically included in a contract between the
parties.
4. No later than the date the system
is required to distribute the report to its customers, each community water
system must mail a copy of the report to the Primacy Agency, followed within
three months by a certification that the report has been distributed to
customers, and that the information is correct and consistent with the
compliance monitoring data previously submitted to the Primacy
Agency.
If the State waives the
mailing requirement for systems fewer than 10,000 persons and your system
chooses not to mail a report to every customer you must:
1. Publish the report in one or
more local newspapers serving the area in which the system is located;
2. Inform the customers that
the reports will not be mailed, either in the newspapers in which the reports
are published or by other means approved by the state; and
3. Make the reports available
to the public upon request
Systems serving 500 or fewer persons who
choose not to mail the report to every customer may forego the requirements of 1
and 2 above if they provide notice at least once per year to their customers by
mail, door-to-door delivery, or by posting in an appropriate location that the
report is available upon request.
(The system is still required to
create the report and comply with all other provisions of the
regulation.)
The report must be retained
for no less than 5 years.
The Template
Instructions
For each of the following
sections, consider if they apply to your
utility's situation and then choose the language that best fits your need.
It is recommended that the optional language be included in your report where
appropriate.
Section 1.
There is no required
language in this section. This is a great opportunity for you to set a
positive tone for the entire report. Remember, when deciding on a title for
your report keep in mind that the title will be the first impression your
customers will have of the report and perhaps even your utility! When customers
or even the media mention the report it will be by the name you have given it.
Section 2.
Your introduction is the
key! You control the message here! This may be the first time many of your
customers have read anything descriptive about your utility. The regulation REQUIRES you to provide the type and
location of the water source. The
regulation also REQUIRES that if you have
a source water assessment plan you must include a statement informing
the consumers of the availability of the information and means to obtain
it. If the system has received a
source water assessment from the primacy agency, you must include a brief
summary of the system’s susceptibility to potential sources of contamination,
using language provide by the primacy agency or written by the operator.
You may wish to expand on
the examples in Section 2 and provide additional information on your system such
as:
·
Why you are providing this
report
·
General information about
your water utility
·
New construction or
modifications
·
How many miles of new
lines
·
How many new customers
added
·
New or improved
treatments
·
Operator professionalism
(certification, training or other staff achievements)
Section 3.
Include a quote from an
official (Mayor, Board President or Manager) about your drinking
water.
Two examples are given. Use
one of these or one of your own.
Section 4.
Your system should offer to
answer ANY questions itself. If a
customer is confused or misinformed give your utility the opportunity to clarify
things. . . don't leave it up to chance! The regulation REQUIRES that the telephone number
of the owner, operator or designee be included along with the time and place of
regularly scheduled board meetings.
Section 5.
The regulation REQUIRES that the data be derived
from data collected during calendar year 1998 for the first report and
subsequent calendar years thereafter.
If your system is allowed to monitor for
regulated contaminants less often than once a year, the table is REQUIRED to include the date and results of the
most recent sampling and a brief statement indicating that the data presented in
the report are from the most recent testing done in accordance with the
regulations.
Section 6.
For each constituent that is
detected or is a violation, the level detected, unit of measurement, the MCLG,
the MCL and the likely source of contamination is REQUIRED to be reported in a Test
Results Table format (see section 7).
This section provides definitions of the units of measurement. Include the paragraph and appropriate
definitions of the unit of measurement for any constituent or detect you report
in the Test Result Table.
Section 7.
If there were any violations
of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) or any detection of any constituent in the
finished water results, these are REQUIRED be reported in whole
numbers, or “CCR Units” in the Test Results Table of your report (see below for
details on whole numbers). If there
is no MCL for a detected contaminant, the table must indicate that there is a
treatment technique, or specify the action level, applicable to that
contaminant, and the definitions for treatment technique and/or action level, as
provided in Section 6.
Where a system is allowed to
monitor for regulated contaminants less often than once a year, the table is Required to include the date and
results of the most recent sampling and a brief statement indicating that the
data presented in the report are from the most recent testing done in accordance
with the regulations. Test results that are five years old or more should not be
used in this report.
Reporting in Whole
Numbers
The table below is for
informational purposes only. It shows how EPA has calculated MCLs in
whole numbers, or “CCR Units”. This
table is not required to be printed in the system’s report.
The regulation requires that test results be reported
in whole numbers, or “CCR Units” (i.e. 1 or greater). Test results are usually
expressed as decimals (i.e. 0.08 mg/l - milligrams per liter which is the same
as parts per million). Column A of
the below table lists each of the constituents, Column B shows the multiplier
for that constituents, and column C shows the MCL in whole numbers as calculated
by the EPA.
Systems can use this table
to convert their test results to whole numbers, or “CCR Units”.
Example: A system’s test result for Antimony is
0.002 mg/l. This will have to be
converted to a whole number as follows: 0.002 mg/l x 1000 = 2 parts per billion
or micrograms per liter.
Key
AL=Action Level
MCL=Maximum Contaminant Level
MCLG=Maximum Contaminant Level Goal
MFL=million fibers per liter
mrem/year=millirems per year (a measure of radiation absorbed by the body)
NTU=Nephelometric Turbidity Units
pCi/l=picocuries per liter (a measure of radioactivity)
ppm=parts per million, or milligrams per liter (mg/l)
ppb=parts per billion, or micrograms per liter (g/l)
ppt=parts per trillion, or nanograms per liter
ppq=parts per quadrillion, or picograms per liter
TT=Treatment Technique
|
A |
B
X |
C =
|
D |
|
|
Contaminant |
MCL in compliance units
(mg/L) |
multiply by... |
MCL in CCR
units |
|
|
Microbiological
Contaminants | ||||
|
1. Total Coliform Bacteria |
- |
- |
presence of coliform bacteria in 5% of monthly samples |
|
|
2. Fecal coliform and E. coli |
- |
- |
a routine sample and a repeat sample are total coliform positive, and one is also fecal coliform or E. coli positive |
|
|
3. Turbidity |
- |
- |
TT (NTU) |
|
|
Radioactive
Contaminants | ||||
|
4. Beta/photon emitters |
4 mrem/yr |
- |
4 mrem/yr |
|
|
5. Alpha emitters |
15 pCi/l |
- |
15 pCi/l |
|
|
6. Combined radium |
5 pCi/l |
- |
5 pCi/l |
|
|
Inorganic Contaminants | ||||
|
7. Antimony |
.006 mg/l |
1000 |
6 ppb |
|
|
8. Arsenic |
.05 mg/l |
1000 |
50 ppb |
|
|
9. Asbestos |
7 MFL |
- |
7 MFL |
|
|
10. Barium |
2 mg/l |
- |
2 ppm |
|
|
11. Beryllium |
.004 mg/l |
1000 |
4 ppb |
|
|
12. Cadmium |
.005 mg/l |
1000 |
5 ppb |
|
|
13. Chromium |
.1 mg/l |
1000 |
100 ppb |
|
|
14. Copper |
AL=1.3 mg/l |
- |
AL=1.3 ppm |
|
|
15. Cyanide |
.2 mg/l |
1000 |
200 ppb |
|
|
16. Fluoride |
4 mg/l |
- |
4 ppm |
|
|
17. Lead |
AL=.015 mg/l |
1000 |
AL=15 ppb |
|
|
18. Mercury (inorganic) |
.002 mg/l |
1000 |
2 ppb |
|
|
19. Nitrate (as Nitrogen) |
10 mg/l |
- |
10 ppm |
|
|
20. Nitrite (as Nitrogen) |
1 mg/l |
- |
1 ppm |
|
|
21. Selenium |
.05 mg/l |
1000 |
50 ppb |
|
|
22. Thallium |
.002 mg/l |
1000 |
2 ppb |
|
|
Synthetic Organic Contaminants
including Pesticides and Herbicides | ||||
|
23. 2,4-D |
.07 mg/l |
1000 |
70 ppb |
|
|
24. 2,4,5-TP [Silvex] |
.05 mg/l |
1000 |
50 ppb |
|
|
25. Acrylamide |
- |
- |
TT |
|
|
26. Alachlor |
.002 mg/l |
1000 |
2 ppb |
|
|
27. Atrazine |
.003 mg/l |
1000 |
3 ppb |
|
|
28. Benzo(a)pyrene [PAH] |
.0002 mg/l |
1,000,000 |
200 ppt |
|
|
29. Carbofuran |
.04 mg/l |
1000 |
40 ppb |
|
|
30. Chlordane |
.002 mg/l |
1000 |
2 ppb |
|
|
31. Dalapon |
.2 mg/l |
1000 |
200 ppb |
|
|
32. Di(2-ethylhexyl)adipate |
.4 mg/l |
1000 |
400 ppb |
|
|
33. Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate |
.006 mg/l |
1000 |
6 ppb |
|
|
34. Dibromochloropropane |
.0002 mg/l |
1,000,000 |
200 ppt |
|
|
35. Dinoseb |
.007 mg/l |
1000 |
7 ppb |
|
|
36. Diquat |
.02 mg/l |
1000 |
20 ppb |
|
|
37. Dioxin [2,3,7,8-TCDD] |
.00000003 mg/l |
1,000,000,000 |
30 ppq |
|
|
38. Endothall |
.1 mg/l |
1000 |
100 ppb |
|
|
39. Endrin |
.002 mg/l |
1000 |
2 ppb |
|
|
40. Epichlorohydrin |
- |
- |
TT |
|
|
41. Ethylene dibromide |
.00005 mg/l |
1,000,000 |
50 ppt |
|
|
42. Glyphosate |
.7 mg/l |
1000 |
700 ppb |
|
|
43. Heptachlor |
.0004 mg/l |
1,000,000 |
400 ppt |
|
|
44. Heptachlor epoxide |
.0002 mg/l |
1,000,000 |
200 ppt |
|
|
45. Hexachlorobenzene |
.001 mg/l |
1000 |
1 ppb |
|
|
46. Hexachlorocyclopentadiene |
.05 mg/l |
1000 |
50 ppb |
|
|
47. Lindane |
.0002 mg/l |
1,000,000 |
200 ppt |
|
|
48. Methoxychlor |
.04 mg/l |
1000 |
40 ppb |
|
|
49. Oxamyl [Vydate] |
.2 mg/l |
1000 |
200 ppb |
|
|
50. PCBs [Polychlorinated biphenyls] |
.0005 mg/l |
1,000,000 |
500 ppt |
|
|
51. Pentachlorophenol |
.001 mg/l |
1000 |
1 ppb |
|
|
52. Picloram |
.5 mg/l |
1000 |
500 ppb |
|
|
53. Simazine |
.004 mg/l |
|||