A Consumer Confidence Report is the annual report a community water system sends its customers. EPA requires it. It is not a well test, not a sales packet, and not a whole-house design.
Start with who the report is for
The cover should name the public water system and usually a PWS ID. If you live in a suburb buying water from a larger city, the report you want is the one on the bill, not the famous city’s brochure. TapMatch city files follow that bill. If we opened the wrong PWS, that is on us — tell us with the utility URL.
Rows that actually change equipment
Disinfectant. Chlorine and chloramine are different. The table may say “chlorine,” “free chlorine,” “chloramines,” or “total chlorine.” A 42 chlorine carbon listing is not a chloramine listing. If the residual row is missing and only TTHMs print, the TapMatch file stays open-ccr. We do not guess.
Hardness. Often on a secondary or “other” table. Units are mg/L or ppm as CaCO3, or grains per gallon (1 gpg ≈ 17.1 mg/L). If the report does not print hardness, stop. TDS, alkalinity, and conductivity are not hardness. Calcium by itself is not a hardness bar we will invent.
Lead. Usually a 90th-percentile number from tap samples in high-risk homes, compared to the 15 ppb action level. That is plumbing as much as it is the plant. It is not a reason to buy a softener.
Nitrate. MCL 10 mg/L as N when they print it. A range that includes a high well in a blended system is not your kitchen tap unless the report says so.
PFAS. Some 2024–2026 reports print PFOA/PFOS. Many still do not. EPA’s UCMR 5 required a lot of systems to test. “Required to test” is not a detection. We will not write one in.
What a CCR will not do
It will not size a softener. It will not tell you whether brine is legal — that is the sewer agency, often a different letterhead. It will not certify a filter. NSF/WQA/IAPMO listings live in those directories, not in the utility PDF.
If a quote uses the CCR as a fear script, take the PDF and the bill of materials to the comparison. Leave the vial demo at the door.