For Drinking Water Operator Certification study, one practical question is when a community water system has to get its Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) to customers. The rule is 40 CFR Part 141, Subpart O. This explainer reads it as it stands in the eCFR and on EPA's CCR pages. It does not describe a new rule: the dates below are the compliance dates written into the rule itself. A State with primary enforcement responsibility may adopt alternative requirements for the form and content of the reports under 141.151(e), so check your State's rules as well.
Which systems must send a CCR?
Only community water systems. 141.151(b) states that "this subpart applies only to community water systems." The subpart sets "the minimum requirements for the content of reports that community water systems must deliver to their customers" (141.151(a)). EPA's consumer page calls the CCR an "annual drinking water quality report".
What is the yearly deadline?
July 1. 141.152(b) states: "Each existing community water system must deliver reports according to § 141.155 by July 1 each year. Each report delivered by July 1 must contain data collected during the previous calendar year, or the most recent calendar year before the previous calendar year." EPA's consumer page gives the same date: "Reports must be sent by your water supplier each year by July 1."
A new system has a later first deadline: under 141.152(c), it "must deliver its first report by July 1 of the year after its first full calendar year in operation."
Which version of the rule applies, and when?
141.152(a) sets the dates: "Between June 24, 2024, and December 31, 2026, community water systems must comply with 40 CFR 141.151 through 141.155 (except § 141.153(d)(4)(xii)), as codified on July 1, 2023. Beginning January 1, 2027, community water systems must comply with 40 CFR 141.151 through 141.156 (except § 141.153(8)(h)(i)), as codified on July 1, 2024." A further step follows: "Beginning November 1, 2027, community water systems must comply with 40 CFR 141.151 through 141.156, as codified on July 1, 2025."
EPA's rule revisions page describes the May 2024 final rule behind these dates: "Starting in 2027, the final rule will ensure that these reports are easier to read and support access to translations in appropriate languages while enhancing information about lead in drinking water."
Who must send a second report each year?
In the version that applies from January 1, 2027, 141.155(j)(2) states: "Each community water system serving 10,000 or more persons must distribute the report biannually, or twice per calendar year, by December 31" using the delivery methods in 141.155(a). Under 141.155(j)(1), every system still distributes its report "by July 1 each year."
The second report may need a "6-month update." Under 141.155(j)(3), a system subject to (j)(2) that had "a violation or action level exceedance that occurred between January 1 and June 30 of the current year," or received monitoring results under the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (141.40), must include one, starting with "A short description of the nature of the 6-month update and the biannual delivery."
What changes in delivery and follow-up in 2027?
Until December 31, 2026, the version codified on July 1, 2023 applies. In that text (shown by the eCFR for January 1, 2024), 141.155(a) says each system "must mail or otherwise directly deliver one copy of the report to each customer", and 141.155(c) requires a copy to the primacy agency by the delivery date, "followed within 3 months by a certification that the report has been distributed to customers". Systems "serving 100,000 or more persons" must post the report online (141.155(f)).
In the version that applies from January 1, 2027 (the current eCFR text):
- Delivery: each system must "directly deliver a copy of the report to each customer", using at least one of: "Mail or hand deliver a paper copy of the report"; "Mail a notification that the report is available on a website via a direct link"; "Email a direct link or electronic version of the report"; or "Another direct delivery method approved in writing by the primacy agency" (141.155(a)(1)). Systems using the electronic options "must provide a paper copy of the report to any customer upon request" (141.155(a)(2)).
- Certification: "No later than 10 days after the date the system is required to distribute the report to its customers, each community water system must provide a copy of the report to the primacy agency and a certification that the report(s) has/have been distributed to customers" (141.155(c)).
- Online posting: "Each community water system serving 50,000 or more persons must post its current year's report to a publicly-accessible site on the internet" (141.155(f)).
Both versions keep two points. Under 141.155(g), the Governor of a State or a designee (or an eligible Tribal Leader) can waive direct delivery "for community water systems serving fewer than 10,000 persons"; those systems must then publish the reports locally, tell customers the reports will not be mailed, and make them available on request, and systems serving 500 or fewer persons may instead give notice at least once a year that the report is available on request. And under 141.155(h), "Any system subject to this subpart must retain copies of its Consumer Confidence Report for no less than 3 years."
Where to study this
The CCR also matters for public notice: under Subpart Q, the CCR may be used for the initial Tier 3 notice under conditions covered in our public notification study guide. For the system types the CCR rule applies to, see the systems and definitions study guide, and the drinking water operator hub for all practice tests.