“Is my tap water safe to drink?”: Examining the quality of a national sample of United States drinking water reports

The Environmental Protection Agency requires public water systems create an annual “Consumer Confidence Report” (CCR) for their customers. CCRs are meant to communicate water quality results, and are claimed to be the “centerpiece” of consumer right-to-know under the Safe Drinking Water Act. However, previous research indicates that CCRs are not understandable to members of the American public.

This work analyzes a nationally-representative sample of 60 CCRs, collected from water systems of different sizes, and from communities experiencing various levels of social vulnerability. The content and communication quality of CCRs were both evaluated, and the results were analyzed to determine whether CCR quality varies based on water system size or by the demographic served by the utility.

Poorer-quality CCRs were more likely to originate from smaller systems, or those serving vulnerable communities – the same systems that are more likely to experience drinking water violations. Additional legal requirements for CCR content and language could have a marked impact in improving the reports to meet the needs of the American public, by giving underserved communities an important document to use for advocating for themselves – which could promote greater environmental justice in public drinking water.