THE .us



2005

Introduction to the CCR 2

Requirements of the CCR 2-3

Obtaining Your Water Quality Results 3

Directions for Completing the CCR Template 4-8

Water Quality Report - CCR Template 9-14

Converting Detections to Whole Number Values 15-17

Turbidity Reporting Section 18

Health Effects Information 18-23

CCR Mailing Requirements 24

CCR Certification Form Directions 24

CCR Certification Form 25

Note: This Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) document was designed to assist you in the production of your 2005 CCR. You may down load this document for use in the preparation of your CCR.

To complete your CCR you will need:

Water quality results for your water system, a calculator, pen and /or computer.

INTRODUCTION TO THE CCR

Unfortunately for the water industry, surveys indicate that most water users are not aware of the effort and dedication required to provide them with safe drinking water. To help rectify this lack of understanding the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) rule, designed to give consumers more information about their drinking water, was the centerpiece of a number of provisions adopted in the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. Toward this goal all community water systems are required to provide their customers with an annual drinking water report known as the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). The CCR shall include certain water quality data and other related information about the water system. The major goals of the CCR is for water customers to better understand their water supply, make informed decisions regarding their personal use of drinking water and comprehend the importance of its protection for the future. Water suppliers should view the CCR as a public information tool to not only educate and involve their consumers, but also to promote a dialogue between themselves and their customers. The CCR furnishes a water system with the opportunity to show its customers the dedication and effort that are required to provide them with safe drinking water. This report can provide a water system with much needed positive public relations coverage.

The enclosed information, instructions and CCR template have been designed to assist you in the production of your water system’s CCR. You may use this document for the creation of your CCR. Please if you need additional help or have questions call Richard Thayer at 603-271-2950 or email at rthayer@des.state.nh.us

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CCR

1) Every year a CCR is to be produced by each community water system and then distributed to its customers no latter than July 1 of each year.

2) The water system must submit to the Water Supply Engineering Bureau (WSEB) a copy of its 2005 CCR (mailed by July 1, 2005) and also a completed “CCR Certification Form” within 90 days (or no latter than October 1, 2005) after the delivery of the CCR to the water system’s customers. The “CCR Certification Form” is provided on page 25 of this document.

3) When a water system has received a completed source water assessment from the WSEB, the CCR must notify customers that an assessment is available and where they can obtain a copy. The CCR must also include a brief summary of the system’s susceptibility to potential sources of contamination as shown by the assessment (review page 5 of this document).

4) The CCR must report the amount of a specific detected contaminant when that contaminant is detected by laboratory analysis. Any contaminant not detected by laboratory analysis should not be reported in the CCR. Detected contaminants that should be reported include only those contaminants that are listed in the “CCR Template” found on pages 9-14 of this document. The following parameters need to be included in the “Test Results” portion of the template:

• The CCR must show the detected level of a contaminant when its sample result was used to determine compliance for that contaminant. Non-compliance sample results are not required to be included in the CCR.

• The CCR should display the range and average for all detected contaminants that had more than one value taken during the reporting period of the CCR even if a contaminant’s compliance was not determined by the use of an average.

• When a system samples less frequently than once a year for a contaminant, the CCR should include data from the most recent testing period. For example, when a system samples once every three years for a contaminant and detects that contaminant in the last sample cycle taken, each subsequent CCR would need to report the same value for that contaminant until such time as a new sample for that contaminant is taken and a new laboratory value is determined. However, please remember that the 2005 CCR can include only sample results from 2004 and before. Samples results from 2005 should not be used. The CCR should also contain a brief statement explaining that the data presented is from the most recent testing period, was done in accordance with regulations and the date of the results.

5) No water quality data more than five years old should be included in your 2005 CCR.

6) A water system must make their CCR available to any member of the public who requests it. At a minimum, this means that the water system must mail a copy of their CCR to any citizen who requests one.

7) A water system must keep copies of their past CCR’s on file for a minimum of five years.

8) The Consumer Confidence Rule is included in Env–Ws 352.

OBTAINING YOUR WATER QUALITY RESULTS

For the State NHDES Laboratory you can go to once there click on to “DES Programs”, then click on to “One Stop Data Retrieval”, then click on to “Public Water Systems Consumer Confidence Reporting”, from there locate your water system and retrieve its data. However, please note that this site can only provide you with water quality results that were analyzed by the NHDES Laboratory.

If you need help in determining 90th percentile values for your lead and copper results please call Richard Thayer at the WSEB at 603-271-2950.

DIRECTIONS FOR COMPLETING THE

ENCLOSED CCR TEMPLATE

(The CCR template is located just after these directions on pages 9-14)

1) Insert the name of your water system in the space to the left or just above the title “Water Quality Report – 2005” located on page 9.

2) In the section “What is the water quality of my drinking water?” insert a general statement about the water quality of the water provided by your water system.

Example: We are pleased to report that our drinking water meets federal and state requirements.

Example: This report shows that our drinking water has excellent water quality.

3) In the section “What is the source of my water?” you will need to identify the source(s) of the water delivered by your water system. You must explain the type of source water you provide (ground and/or surface water) and its general location. Unfortunately, since the tragic events of September 11, the guidelines for describing your source(s) may now need to be reconsidered. Because of possible terrorist activities, providing too much detail about the exact location of your drinking water source(s) could be of concern. For surface water sources listing only the water body where the intake is located would be appropriate. For ground water sources the name of the principal aquifer and/or a statement expressing how many wells are used would now be sufficient. There is now the need to provide only a general location of the source(s) in a broad way without disclosing exact locations of those water sources.

4) In the section “Why are contaminants in my water?” the required language has been included in the template for you on pages 9 and 14.

5) In the section “How can I get involved?” you will need to insert the name of a person from your water system and telephone number your customers can call to obtain information about the water system. You will also need to put in the dates, time and location of the Water Board, Commissioner or business meetings for your water system. When regularly scheduled meetings are not available, you will need to inform your customers where they can obtain information on when and where meetings about the water system would be held.

6) In the section “Other information” you may use this section of the template to include information on a variety of topics. Some of those topics are listed below. Please note that you only need to include the topics below that apply to your water system.

A) If your water system received any MCL or other violations issued by the WSEB during 2004 your 2005 CCR must include a clear explanation of the violation, any potential health effects, the length of the violation, and steps the water system has taken to correct the violation.

B) When a water system is operating under a variance or exemption the CCR must explain the reason why the variance or exemption was issued, the date it was issued, its renewal date and a status report on what the system is doing to remedy the situation.

C) When your water system uses a treatment process you should explain the type of treatment that is being used and what the treatment process is used for.

D) For water systems that are required to measure turbidity the highest average monthly value must be listed and also an explanation of why turbidity is measured. Examples of wording for why turbidity measurements are taken are located in the “Turbidity Reporting Section” of this document on page 18.

E) The WSEB has a completed a source water assessment for your water system and now you must notify your customers that the assessment is available, where they can obtain the information, and a brief summary of the assessment. Below is an example of the language that you can use, substituting the appropriate numbers in bold typeface from the table in Part 2 of your Assessment Report:

The NH Department of Environmental Services has prepared a Source Assessment Report for the source(s) serving this community water system, assessing the sources’ vulnerability to contamination. The results of the assessment, prepared on (date(s)), are as follows. (First source name and/or description), received (number) high susceptibility ratings, (number) medium susceptibility ratings, and (number) low susceptibility ratings. If your water system has a second source (second source name and/or description), received (number) high susceptibility ratings, (number) medium susceptibility ratings, and (number) low susceptibility ratings. The complete Assessment Report is available for inspection at (water system office or other location). For more information, call (water system contact) or visit NH DES’s Drinking Water Source Assessment Program web site at des.state.nh.us/dwspp.

If your water system has more than two sources, you would repeat the above process, including information for each additional source. However if you have questions about your Source Assessment Report or need assistance in what to include from the report please contact Jessica Brock from the NH Source Water Protection Program at 603-271-4071 or jbrock@des.state.nh.us

7) In the section “Do I need to take special precautions?” the required language has been included in the template for you.

8) In the section “Definitions” the required language has been included in the template for you.

9) In the section “Abbreviations” the required language has been included in the template for you.

10) In the section “Test Results” the required language and values for Units, MCL, MCLG and Likely Source of Contamination have been included in the template for you.

11) In the section “Test Results” you will need to enter contaminant values and violation parameters in the columns entitled “Level Detected” and “Violation Yes / No” for only those contaminants on the template that have been detected by laboratory analysis. The entering of this data should be done in the following manner:

A) Insert the value of any detected contaminant in the “Level Detected” column space for that contaminant (also review section D on page 7). For any contaminant not detected (i.e. BDL, ................
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