How to Read Your Consumer Confidence Report (And What It’s Not Telling You)

Every municipal water utility in the United States is required by law to publish an annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) — also called a water quality report — by July 1 of each year covering the prior calendar year’s testing results. If you receive a water bill, your utility must provide this report. Most are now available online. And most people never read them.

This guide walks you through exactly what a CCR contains, how to find yours, and — critically — what it is not telling you.

How to Find Your CCR

1. Search your utility’s name + “water quality report” or “CCR.” Most utilities post the current year’s report on their website.
2. Use the EPA’s CCR search tool at epa.gov/ccr.
3. Call your utility directly. They are legally required to provide it upon request at no cost.

Private well owners: CCRs do not apply to private wells. Your well has no federal testing requirement. See our guide on how to test your well water.

What a CCR Contains

Water Source Information

The CCR identifies where your water comes from — surface water (river, lake, reservoir) or groundwater (wells, aquifers). This matters because surface water is more vulnerable to agricultural runoff, industrial discharge, and seasonal contamination events. Groundwater is more stable but can carry naturally occurring contaminants like arsenic and radon depending on the geology.

Detected Contaminant Levels

The CCR lists contaminants that were detected in your water and their measured levels, alongside the legal Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL). The format typically shows: the contaminant name, the MCL, the level detected (or a range), and the likely source.

A CCR that shows all detected levels below MCLs means your utility is in legal compliance. It does not mean your water is free of contaminants — it means detected levels are below the legal limit. Many health researchers argue that legal limits for several contaminants are set above health-protective levels for political and economic reasons.

Violations

If your utility had any violations — exceeding an MCL, failing to test, or failing to notify customers of a problem — the CCR must report these. A violation history is a significant signal worth investigating.

What Your CCR Is Not Telling You

PFAS (Before 2024)

Any CCR published before 2024 contains no PFAS data whatsoever — PFAS testing was not federally required until 2023. CCRs published in 2025 and 2026 should include PFAS data if your system was covered by UCMR 5 testing. Check the EWG Tap Water Database at ewg.org/tapwater for the most current PFAS data for your system.

Lead at Your Tap

The Lead and Copper Rule requires lead testing at the treatment plant, not at your tap. Lead contamination that occurs in the pipes between the plant and your faucet — from lead service lines or lead solder — is not captured in CCR lead levels. This is precisely how Flint, Michigan showed zero lead violations in its CCR while children were being poisoned.

If your home was built before 1986, get your tap water tested for lead independently, regardless of what the CCR shows.

Contaminants With No Legal Limit

The EPA has not adopted a new Maximum Contaminant Level for an unregulated contaminant since 1996. Of an estimated 90,000+ chemicals in commercial use, fewer than 100 have enforceable limits in drinking water. A contaminant can be detected in your water at any level and not appear in your CCR as a violation if there is no MCL — because legally, there is no limit to violate.

The EWG Tap Water Database reports contaminants detected above health guidelines but below legal limits — a category that a CCR does not separately highlight.

Reading CCR Data: A Practical Example

A CCR entry might read: “Trihalomethanes (TTHMs): MCL = 80 ppb. Level detected = 62 ppb. Source: By-product of drinking water disinfection.”

This is a legal pass. But the EWG’s health guideline for TTHMs is 0.15 ppb — more than 400 times stricter than the legal MCL — based on epidemiological research linking long-term TTHM exposure to bladder cancer. Your CCR would show compliance while EWG would flag the same reading as significantly above health guidelines.

This is not an argument that all CCR-compliant water is dangerous — it is an argument that reading only the MCL comparison tells an incomplete story.

What to Do With Your CCR

1. Check your water source (surface vs groundwater) and understand the implications.
2. Note any violations — look them up and understand what they mean.
3. Cross-reference your system in the EWG Tap Water Database for contaminants detected above health guidelines.
4. Check our state water quality rating for the broader regional contamination context.
5. If PFAS, lead, or nitrates are a concern based on your research, consider independent testing and appropriate filtration. See our Water Filter Comparison Guide.