What is a Consumer Confidence Report for water?
The short answer: it is the federally-required annual drinking water quality report that every U.S. community water system (CWS) must publish under 40 CFR 141 Subpart O. It is different from an HOA CC&R, the Consumer Confidence Index, and the California Code of Regulations — three homographs that dominate the unmodified "CCR" search. This page answers the question for water.
Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), defined.
A Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) is an annual drinking water quality report that every community water system (CWS) in the United States is required to produce and deliver to its customers. Other names for the same document include annual drinking water report, annual water quality report, and water quality report — all refer to the federally-mandated disclosure under 40 CFR 141 Subpart O.
The rule was established by the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act and was first codified at 40 CFR 141.151–141.156 in 1998. It has been amended several times; the most recent revisions were finalized at 89 FR 46012 (May 24, 2024), adding biannual delivery for larger systems and a Limited English Proficiency (LEP) plan for the largest systems.
What a water CCR is not.
The acronym "CCR" is used in several unrelated contexts. If you arrived here from a search, one of the following may be what you actually want:
- HOA CC&R— Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions. Private property rules governing a homeowners association. Unrelated to drinking water.
- Consumer Confidence Index — an economic indicator measuring household sentiment. Produced by the Conference Board; unrelated to water quality.
- California Code of Regulations (CCR) — the codified California state regulations. Relevant to California water systems (specifically Title 22) but not the same document as the federal water Consumer Confidence Report.
- Credence Clearwater Revival — American rock band. Definitely not a water regulation.
- Anterior cruciate ligament / knee injuries — medical abbreviation (sometimes "ACL reconstruction" but occasionally CCR in sports medicine). Not water.
If you are a community water system operator or compliance manager, and you need to publish your annual drinking water quality report, you are in the right place.
The three questions.
Every community water system.
Defined at 40 CFR § 141.2 as a system serving ≥ 25 year-round residents or ≥ 15 service connections for year-round residents. Non-transient non-community systems (schools, workplaces) and transient systems (campgrounds) are not required to publish a CCR.
By July 1 each year.
40 CFR § 141.155(j)(1) sets the July 1 annual delivery deadline for the prior calendar year's data. Systems serving ≥ 10,000 persons must also deliver a second report by December 31 (§ 141.155(j)(2), 2024 revisions).
Nine content areas (§ 141.153).
Water system information, source water, definitions, detected contaminants, NPDWR compliance, variances, violations, monitoring, educational text. Each area has specific verbatim language requirements that come from Appendix A to Subpart O.
Related questions.
Is a water CCR the same as an HOA CC&R?
No. Homeowners-association Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) are private property rules. A water Consumer Confidence Report is a federal public-health disclosure required annually under 40 CFR 141 Subpart O. Unrelated documents that happen to share an abbreviation.
Is a water CCR the same as the Consumer Confidence Index?
No. The Consumer Confidence Index is an economic indicator measuring household sentiment about the economy. A water CCR is a drinking water quality report produced by your local utility under EPA regulation.
Who is required to publish a CCR?
Every community water system (CWS) in the United States, as defined at 40 CFR § 141.2: systems that serve at least 25 year-round residents or have at least 15 service connections used by year-round residents. If your utility meets that definition, you must publish a CCR every year.
When is the CCR due?
By July 1 each year, covering the previous calendar year's monitoring data (40 CFR § 141.155(j)(1)). Community water systems serving 10,000 or more persons must also deliver a second report by December 31 (biannual delivery, § 141.155(j)(2), added by the 2024 CCR Rule Revisions).
What does a CCR have to contain?
Nine content categories are specified at 40 CFR § 141.153: (a) water system information, (b) source water, (c) definitions, (d) detected contaminants, (e) compliance with National Primary Drinking Water Regulations, (f) variances and exemptions, (g) required additional information on violations, (h) required additional information on monitoring, and (i) required educational information. Appendix A to Subpart O supplies mandatory verbatim health-effects language.
How long must a utility keep its CCR?
40 CFR § 141.155(h) requires community water systems to retain copies of their Consumer Confidence Report for no less than three years. Underlying monitoring records follow § 141.33 (bacteriological five years; chemical analyses ten years).
Keep reading.
For the complete section-by-section walk-through of 40 CFR 141 Subpart O — including worked examples, byte-exact Appendix A language, and common rejection causes — see the Consumer Confidence Report guide. For the templates that ship with 1water.ai, see the CCR template page.
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