How to Read Your Water Quality Report (CCR), Step by Step

If you’re on city water, your utility already tests it and sends you the results once a year. That document is the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), also called the annual water quality report, and it’s the best free starting point for deciding whether you need to do anything about your water.

Short answer: find the table of detected contaminants. For each one, compare the highest level detected with the MCL (the legal limit). Then read the violations section and the lead row. If nothing is over its limit, there are no violations, and your home has no lead plumbing concerns, your utility’s water met federal standards last year, and many households in that situation don’t need a filter for health reasons. What the report can’t tell you is what happens in your own pipes.

What is a Consumer Confidence Report?

A CCR is a yearly report that every community water system (the utility that supplies homes year-round) must give its customers under EPA’s rule, 40 CFR Part 141, Subpart O. It must describe the quality of the water delivered and the risks, if any, in an “accurate and understandable manner.”

According to EPA’s guide for consumers, every report includes:

• where your water comes from (a river, lake or aquifer, for example)
• a summary of the risk of contamination to that source, where an assessment has been done
• the regulated contaminants found in your water
• the potential health effects of any contaminant detected in violation of an EPA standard
• what the system did to fix any violation
• information on nitrate, arsenic or lead where they may be a concern
• phone numbers, including EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791)

When does the water quality report come out?

Utilities must deliver the report by July 1 every year, and it covers data from the previous calendar year. So the report you get in summer 2026 usually describes water sampled in 2025.

Some contaminants are only required to be tested every few years. In that case, the report shows the date and results of the most recent sampling, with a note saying so. Check the sample dates in the table: an old date isn’t a red flag, but it tells you how current that number is.

How do I find my water quality report?

Try these, in order:

1. Your utility’s website. Search for your utility’s name plus “water quality report” or “CCR”. Under the revised rule that applies from 2027, systems serving 50,000 or more people must post the current report online, and reports posted online must stay available for at least three years.
2. Your water bill or utility emails. Utilities may deliver the report as a mailed notice or an email with a link rather than a booklet, so it’s easy to miss. If you get it electronically, you can still ask for a paper copy.
3. EPA’s search tool. EPA’s CCR page links to a “Find Your Local CCR” search.
4. Call the utility. The phone number is on your bill. Every system must make its report available on request.

If you rent and don’t get a water bill, ask your landlord which utility serves the building, then look up that utility’s report.

The key terms: MCL, MCLG, action level and more

Every report must print these definitions, in EPA’s own words, so the wording in yours should match what’s below.

Term	What EPA’s definition says	What it means for you
MCLG (Maximum Contaminant Level Goal)	“The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.”	A health goal. It is not enforceable. For some contaminants, such as lead and arsenic, the goal is zero.
MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level)	“The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.”	The legal limit. Going over it (as the rule calculates it) is a violation.
Action Level (AL)	“The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow.”	Used for lead and copper, which have no MCL. Exceeding it isn’t a violation by itself; it obliges the utility to act.
Treatment Technique (TT)	“A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.”	For some contaminants EPA requires a process (such as filtration) instead of a numeric limit.
MRDL / MRDLG	The highest level of a disinfectant allowed, and the level below which there is no known or expected risk.	Applies to the chlorine or chloramine your utility adds to kill germs.
Variances and exemptions	“State or EPA permission not to meet an MCL or a treatment technique under certain conditions.”	Only appears if your system has one. Read the explanation if you see it.

The gap between the two matters: a result under the MCL but above a zero MCLG is legal, and the report shows both numbers side by side. Our guides to lead and other contaminants in what’s in your water explain what the research says about specific contaminants at those levels.

Units: ppm, ppb and ppt

• ppm = parts per million = milligrams per liter (mg/L)
• ppb = parts per billion = micrograms per liter (µg/L)
• ppt = parts per trillion = nanograms per liter (ng/L)

One ppm is 1,000 ppb. MCLs are printed as numbers of at least 1.0, so arsenic’s legal limit of 0.010 mg/L appears as 10 ppb. Always compare a result with the MCL in the same row and unit.

How to read the detected contaminants table

This is the heart of the report. Every detected regulated contaminant gets a row with these columns (names vary a little between utilities):

Column	What to look for
Contaminant and units	What was measured and in which unit.
MCL (or AL / TT)	The legal limit, or the action level or treatment technique where there’s no MCL.
MCLG	The health goal, in the same units as the MCL.
Highest level detected (or “level found”)	The number used to judge compliance. Compare this with the MCL.
Range	The lowest and highest individual results across sampling points.
Violation (yes/no)	Whether the utility broke the rule for that contaminant.
Likely source	Where it probably comes from, such as “erosion of natural deposits” or “corrosion of household plumbing systems”.

Why a single high result in the range isn’t always a violation

For some contaminants, compliance is judged on a running annual average at each monitoring location, not on one sample. The best-known examples are TTHM and HAA5, two groups of disinfection byproducts (trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids). For those, the “highest level” is the highest average at any location, while the range shows individual results. So one number in the range can sit above the MCL with “No” in the violation column. That’s not a mistake, but if it repeats year after year, it’s a fair question for your utility.

Reading the lead and copper row

Lead and copper mostly come from pipes and fixtures, not the water source, so utilities sample at the tap in selected homes. The report must show:

• the 90th percentile result from the most recent round of sampling (nine in ten samples were at or below this number)
• the number of sampling sites that exceeded the action level
• the range of tap results

According to EPA’s lead basics page, when more than 10% of tap samples exceed the lead action level of 15 ppb, the utility must take further steps such as optimizing corrosion control, public education and replacing lead service lines under its control. The MCLG for lead is zero.

As of October 2026, that 15 ppb action level is still the one that applies. EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, a final rule published in October 2024, lower it to 10 ppb starting November 1, 2027, and also require utilities to replace lead and galvanized-requiring-replacement service lines under their control within 10 years. Our lead guide covers what that means for your home.

Copper’s action level is 1.3 ppm, and its MCLG is 1.3 ppm as well.

Unregulated contaminants (including PFAS)

A second table may list “unregulated contaminants”: substances EPA requires utilities to monitor so it can decide whether to regulate them. The report shows the average and range detected, with no MCL to compare against, by design.

This is where PFAS results can show up. Under EPA’s fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5), systems sampled for 29 PFAS and lithium during a 12-month period between 2023 and 2025, and community water systems must report detected results in their CCR. EPA’s PFAS rules have been changing since 2025, so see our PFAS in drinking water guide for where the limits stand and how to read those numbers.

Anything else your utility chooses to report, such as hardness, sodium or pH, must be shown separately from the required data. Those are useful for taste, scale and appliance questions (see our hard water guide) rather than legal compliance.

Violations and special statements

Read this section even if the table looks clean. The report must flag any violation of an MCL, MRDL or treatment technique and explain how long it lasted, the possible health effects and what the utility did about it. It must also list monitoring and reporting violations: for example, a missed sample. Those don’t mean the water was unsafe, but they do mean part of the picture is missing.

A few statements appear only when certain results show up, so they’re worth noticing:

• Arsenic: if arsenic was detected above 5 ppb but at or below the 10 ppb MCL, the report must include a short statement that the utility meets the standard, along with the highest level found.
• Nitrate: if nitrate was above 5 ppm but below the 10 ppm MCL, the report must include a statement advising people caring for an infant and using tap water for formula that they may want to use another water source or ask their health care provider.
• Coliform assessments: a “Level 1” or “Level 2” assessment is a study of the system to find out why coliform bacteria were found; the report must say how many corrective actions were completed.
• Vulnerable people: EPA’s statement that people with weakened immune systems, some older adults and infants should ask their health care providers about drinking water appears in every report. It doesn’t signal a problem.

What changes in 2027: the revised CCR rule

EPA revised the CCR rule to make reports easier to understand. It’s a final rule, published May 24, 2024 and in effect since June 24, 2024, but utilities don’t have to follow the new requirements until January 1, 2027. An EPA memo from January 2026 confirms that date. As of October 2026, here’s what to expect:

• A summary at the top. Every report must open with a plain-language summary of violations and compliance information, with contact details, and where relevant, how to request a paper copy or get a translation.
• Two reports a year for larger systems. Systems serving 10,000 or more people must distribute the report twice a year: by July 1 and again by December 31. If something happened in the first half of the year (a violation, a lead action level exceedance, or new unregulated contaminant results), the second report must include a six-month update.
• Translation help. Where many customers have limited English proficiency, the report must explain how to get a translated copy or help in their language.
• More lead information. From November 1, 2027, the lead-related content added by the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements also applies: an updated lead statement, how to see the full lead tap sampling results, how to access the utility’s service line inventory and replacement plan, and a note that the utility samples for lead in schools and child care centers on request.

States that run their own drinking water programs are updating their rules to match, and a state can set its own format as long as the report gives the same information, so layouts vary.

What your water quality report doesn’t tell you

The CCR is a report on the water your utility delivers. It has real limits:

• Your own plumbing. The lead statement EPA requires in reports puts it plainly: the utility “cannot control the variety of materials used in the plumbing in your home,” and “lead exposure is possible even when your tap sampling results do not detect lead at one point in time.” EPA notes lead pipes are more likely in older cities and homes built before 1986, and that brass faucets and lead solder can also add lead.
• Whether your home has a lead service line. The lead row summarizes selected homes, not yours. Ask your utility: under EPA’s revised Lead and Copper Rule, water systems have had to keep an inventory of service line materials since October 16, 2024.
• This week’s water. The report covers last year. Urgent problems aren’t saved for it: under EPA’s Public Notification Rule, utilities must notify you within 24 hours when health could be immediately affected. If you get a boil-water or other notice, follow it, whatever last year’s report said.
• Private wells. No utility tests a private well. EPA says private wells aren’t regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and owners are responsible for their own water. If you’re on a well, there is no CCR for you; start with our well water testing guide.
• Everything else. The report covers required monitoring plus whatever extra results the utility shares. Something not listed may simply not have been required.

What to do after reading your report

1. No violations, everything under its MCL, no lead concerns at home: your utility’s water met federal standards, and you likely don’t need a filter for health reasons. A filter for taste or chlorine smell is a preference, not a fix.
2. Something you want to reduce (a result close to its MCL, an unregulated contaminant you’re concerned about, or a taste or hardness issue): note the exact contaminant and number, then match the treatment to it. Our step-by-step guide to choosing a filter starts there, not with a product.
3. Older home or possible lead pipes: the report can’t answer this. Ask your utility about your service line and test the water at your own tap. EPA says lead tests cost between $20 and $100, and your state or local drinking water authority can point you to certified labs. See how to test your water for the options.
4. A violation or an exceedance: read the utility’s explanation, follow its instructions and call the number in the report with questions. For health worries, talk to your doctor or local health department, or call EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791.

The bottom line

Your water quality report is the most useful free document you have about your tap water. Check the violations, the highest level detected against the MCL (the legal limit, not the MCLG health goal) and the lead row. Then fill the gap the report leaves: what happens between the water main and your glass. A clean report and no lead plumbing usually means you don’t need a filter for health reasons. Where there is a specific problem, the report tells you exactly what a filter needs to be certified for.