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The Table Is Not as Bad as It Looks
Most people open one of these, see a page of abbreviations and close it again. Here is what the abbreviations are.
The takeaway
Read two columns first: the level detected, and the range across samples. A single figure with a wide range behind it means the result depends on where and when the sample was taken. Reports also separate the enforceable limit from the health goal, and those are different numbers by design.
Source: U.S. EPA, Questions and Answers: Consumer Confidence Report Rule Revisions.
The shape of the document
Where the water comes from. A table of what was detected. Any violations or exceedances. And explanatory material about health effects and about lead.
Under the revisions there is also a brief summary at the beginning highlighting the key information and the system’s contact details, and an identification of any violations or action level exceedances from the prior year — which is precisely the information people were failing to find in the old format.
Source: U.S. EPA, Questions and Answers: Consumer Confidence Report Rule Revisions.
The two columns that matter most
The level detected and the range. The first is what was found; the second is the spread across the samples. A single figure with a wide range behind it is a different situation from the same figure with a narrow one, and the range is the column most readers skip entirely.
A wide range means the answer depends on where and when, which is a question worth taking back to the system.
Goals against limits
Reports distinguish the enforceable limit for a contaminant from the health goal for it. The two are not the same number and they are not supposed to be: one is what the system must meet, the other is where the health objective sits.
Reading a result against the wrong one of those is the commonest misreading of these documents in both directions — some people panic at a result that is compliant, and others relax at a result that is only just so.
What a detection means, and what it does not
That the substance was found in the samples taken, at the concentrations shown. That is all it means. It is not a statement about your tap, because the samples were taken in the system rather than in your kitchen, and it is not a statement about anybody’s health.
The gap between the system and your tap is the most important thing on this site and it has its own page.
And the part about lead
Under the revisions, a system that exceeds the lead action level must clearly identify the exceedance, explain it, set out the steps consumers can take to reduce their exposure, and describe the corrective actions and their timeframes.
Reports also now carry updated health risk language with specific statements on nitrate and on arsenic.
Source: U.S. EPA, Consumer Confidence Report Rule Revisions Comparison fact sheet; U.S. EPA, Questions and Answers: Consumer Confidence Report Rule Revisions.
Read your report before you buy anything.It is published about your own system, it costs nothing, and it is the only thing that turns “I want a filter” into a question with an answer. If you do want something installed after that, we will route you to a contractor covering your area, matched on your ZIP code — you are never charged. Filtration is only our subject — every sort of plumbing job can be routed from here.
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