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MOST AMERICANS RECEIVE THEIR FIRST LOCAL DRINKING WATER REPORTS
Release Date: 10/21/99
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1999
MOST AMERICANS RECEIVE THEIR FIRST LOCAL DRINKING
WATER REPORTS
As of Oct. 19, most Americans should have received their first annual drinking water quality report from their local supplier, providing them with vital information on the safety and quality of their local drinking water. Under a major public right-to-know provision of an amended Safe Drinking Water Act, signed by President Clinton on Aug. 6, l996, the nation’s 55,000 drinking water suppliers must deliver the reports to their customers annually. Called Consumer Confidence Reports, these annual reports will provide consumers, for the first time, with information about what is in their local drinking water, where it comes from and what they can do to help protect it. Through these reports, EPA hopes to start a dialogue between water systems and consumers that could lead to greater public involvement in drinking water protection. Most Americans have already received their reports in the mail. Water systems began preparing and distributing these reports as early as January of this year, but the majority of systems prepared and distributed their reports over the last several months. Many water systems have enhanced their reports beyond EPA’s basic “consumer confidence report” requirements by including maps, photographs and other additional information. While the largest water systems (those serving more than 100,000 people) are required to post their reports on the Internet, many more water systems are voluntarily making the information Internet-accessible. EPA has created a local drinking water information page on its drinking water web site: https://www.epa.gov/safewater/, which links to over 300 reports serving nearly 100 million people. This web site also includes specific information about every local drinking water supplier, violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, as well as information about states’ drinking water and source water protection programs. For more information on actions consumers can take to protect their drinking water, they can consult the web site above or call the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791. If consumers have not received their reports, EPA encourages them to contact their drinking water supplier to request a copies.
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