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The Safe Drinking Water Act amendmentsof 1996 enacted a right-to-knowprovision that required all communitywater systems (CWSs) toprovide yearly Consumer Confidence Reports(CCRs) to all customers. The CCRs discussthe source of drinking water, water quality,and any contaminants detected during theyear. Because all CWSs must collect thisinformation each year, the US EnvironmentalProtection Agency (USEPA) assumed that thecost and effort to prepare the CCRs would beminimal.The authors interviewed 89 CWSs inNevada, which provided a weighted samplein terms of CWS size, on four topics:cost and time necessary to prepare anddistribute the 1999 CCR; consumerresponse; costs versus benefits; and,the effectiveness of the CCR as a way toinform customers. The survey included 53CWSs classified by USEPA as very small(fewer than 500 customers).The size and available resources of theCWSs greatly influenced the survey results.Although 39% of all respondents thought theCCR was worthwhile, only 8% of the verysmall, independently owned CWSs agreed.Fifty-one percent of all CWSs polled felt thebenefits of the CCR would outweigh thecosts of future reports; however, 79% of thevery small, independently owned CWSs feltthat the benefits of the CCR would neveroutweigh the costs. The perceived effectivenessof the CCR for communicating withcustomers also varied with CWS size - 61%of all CWSs thought the CCR was effectivefor communicating with customers, whereas70% of the very small, independently ownedCWSs thought it was ineffective.Benson et al hope that policymakers willconsider the opinions of the CWSs beforeadding future requirements to the CCR,because many CWSs already feel the effortrequired to produce the reports outweighsthe benefits. Includes 5 references, table, figures.

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Edition: Vol. 94 - No. 3 Published: 03/01/2002 Number of Pages: 6 File Size: 1 file , 450 KB