AWWA JAW56574

The Safe Drinking Water Act amendments of 1996 enacted a right-to-know provision that required all community water systems (CWSs) to provide yearly Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs) to all customers. The CCRs discuss the source of drinking water, water quality, and any contaminants detected during the year. Because all CWSs must collect this information each year, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) assumed that the cost and effort to prepare the CCRs would be minimal. The authors interviewed 89 CWSs in Nevada, which provided a weighted sample in terms of CWS size, on four topics: cost and time necessary to prepare and distribute the 1999 CCR; consumer response; costs versus benefits; and, the effectiveness of the CCR as a way to inform customers. The survey included 53 CWSs classified by USEPA as very small (fewer than 500 customers). The size and available resources of the CWSs greatly influenced the survey results. Although 39% of all respondents thought the CCR was worthwhile, only 8% of the very small, independently owned CWSs agreed. Fifty-one percent of all CWSs polled felt the benefits of the CCR would outweigh the costs of future reports; however, 79% of the very small, independently owned CWSs felt that the benefits of the CCR would never outweigh the costs. The perceived effectiveness of the CCR for communicating with customers also varied with CWS size - 61% of all CWSs thought the CCR was effective for communicating with customers, whereas 70% of the very small, independently owned CWSs thought it was ineffective. Benson et al hope that policymakers will consider the opinions of the CWSs before adding future requirements to the CCR, because many CWSs already feel the effort required to produce the reports outweighs the benefits. Includes 5 references, table, figures.