Utility approaches to evaluating the effectiveness of consumer confidence reports

Abstract

The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 require community water systems in the United States to send consumers Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs). CCRs contain information on detected contaminants and required educational information about drinking water. The authors of this study developed a survey to evaluate how utilities track consumer feedback, understanding, and the role of the CCR in shaping consumer perceptions about water quality. Responses from this survey indicate it is common for utilities to indirectly track the effectiveness of their CCRs, but few utilities indicated directly evaluating consumer understanding or the effect of CCRs on consumer perceptions. • Our survey evaluated how utilities track consumer feedback, understanding, and perceptions of the CCR. • Our survey also evaluated methods utilities use to increase the effectiveness of their CCRs. • 81% of utility respondents performed at least one method of evaluating the effectiveness of the CCR. • Practices in evaluating and increasing CCR effectiveness varied by utility size.