A CCR is a Consumer Confidence Report. It is the annual water-quality report a community public water system must deliver to its customers.

Operators also hear it called the annual water quality report. It is not a sanitary survey, and it is not a public notice. It is the yearly document that tells customers what was in the water, where the water came from, and which rules apply.

Orevant evaluates CCR as part of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act set for every system in the EPA registry. That is on the coverage page. This article is compliance information, not legal advice. Confirm the current rule and your delivery method with your state primacy agency.

Who has to produce a CCR

Community water systems (CWS) must produce and deliver a CCR. Transient non-community systems and most non-transient non-community systems are on a different public-information path. If you are unsure of your classification, look up the official EPA profile. The identifier on that profile is your PWSID — the Public Water System Identification number EPA and your state use in SDWIS.

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What the report has to include

The controlling federal rules sit in 40 CFR Part 141 (the CCR requirements are in Subpart O). A CCR has to tell customers, in plain language:

  • Where the water comes from (source type and, where required, source names)
  • Which contaminants were detected, and at what levels
  • How those levels compare to the federal standard (the MCL, or maximum contaminant level)
  • Required educational language, including lead
  • How to reach the system with questions

If a required piece is missing, that is a reporting problem, not a water-quality result. Do not treat a missing CCR as a health-based MCL violation. They are different findings.

The deadline the rule sets

Community water systems must deliver the CCR to every customer by July 1 each year. Missing that date is a reporting violation. Delivery method (mail, direct delivery, electronic delivery where the rule allows it) is set by the federal rule and by your state. Confirm the method your primacy agency accepts this year. Do not assume last year’s process still qualifies.

CCR is not a public notice

A public notice is what you issue when a specific rule is violated or a situation requires timely notice (Tier 1, 2, or 3). A CCR is the annual summary. You can owe both. Orevant’s free public notice generator is for notices. It does not file a CCR, and it does not replace one.

2026 CCR checklist

Run through this before July 1 and the last week stops being a scramble:

  • Confirm the system is classified as a community water system. Check the free water-system lookup for the PWSID.
  • Pull this year detections, the MCL comparisons, and the source information from the lab reports.
  • Add the required educational language, including the lead and health-effects text.
  • Confirm the delivery method (mail, direct delivery, or electronic where allowed) with the state primacy agency.
  • Certify and retain proof of delivery. The state can ask for it.

If a deadline slipped before, use the free deadline calculator to build a rolling schedule, then Start Orevant — $199/month to see every CCR and reporting obligation mapped to the system with citations.

How Orevant treats CCR

Orevant checks whether CCR applies to your system and whether the official EPA record shows the obligation as current. Every finding cites the regulation and shows a retrieval date.

When the official record cannot confirm delivery or content, the finding is labeled Unable to Verify. That is not dressed up as a violation. Federal SDWIS can trail state files by a quarter or more; the report says so.

Orevant now builds the CCR for you: you enter the levels your lab detected and the generator fills in the MCL table, every required health and educational statement, and the definitions, then gives you a printable copy plus a permanent public page you can send customers. The federal requirements are complete in every state; state-specific additions are verified for California and Texas today, and elsewhere the report tells you to confirm your state’s additions with your primacy agency. Orevant does not mail it for you and does not submit it to the state — you deliver it and you file it. See the CCR generator.

FAQ

Do I need a CCR if I am a very small community system?

Yes, if you are classified as a community water system. Size does not remove the federal CCR obligation. How you deliver it can differ; the obligation does not. Confirm the accepted delivery method with your state.

Is a CCR the same as “reporting to the state”?

No. The CCR is a report to your customers. Orevant does not submit your records, tasks, findings, or applications to regulators.

What if last year’s CCR is not in the federal record?

The finding should say Unable to Verify unless there is a cited violation. Check with your state primacy agency. Federal databases can trail state files.

Does Orevant include CCR?

Yes, in two ways: CCR is tracked as part of the federal requirement set that applies to your system, with a citation on the finding, and Orevant includes a CCR generator that builds the report itself from the levels your lab detected. You still deliver it to customers and file the certification with your state — Orevant never submits anything to a regulator on your behalf.

Know where your system stands. Before your state does.

Orevant is $199/month, everything included: what applies, what’s due, what to do, and what funding you qualify for.

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Orevant provides compliance information tools. Content on this page does not constitute legal advice. Compliance determinations should be verified with your state primacy agency.