Drinking Water from a Public Supplier
If your water comes from a public supplier, you have two ways to assess the quality of the water coming from your tap:
1.) Consumer Confidence Reports
Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs) are annual reports provided by every community water supplier and provide information about the quality of drinking water from that particular supplier. The report includes the water's source, contaminants found in the water, and how consumers can get involved in protecting drinking water.
2.) Source Water Assessment Program
The Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) has two components: assessment and protection. Source water assessment is mandatory and aims to gather valuable information about a community's source of drinking water. Assessment information should tell residents exactly where their water supply comes from and what conditions and/or practices may pose threats to its quality.
Source water protection is a voluntary program that aims to use assessment information to develop a plan or strategy to protect a water supply. Source water protection uses the assessment information to manage contaminants and do contingency planning.
- Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) regulates Texas community water systems through its Public Drinking Water Section.
- TCEQ's Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR) Page. CCR's are annual water reports from utilities that are community water supplies.
Source Water Protection Sites
- The Groundwater Foundation's "Source Water Assessment and Protection Workshop Guide" can be found on their Tools & Resources webpage
- TCEQ's Source Water Assessment Program
- EPA's Source Water Protection Site
- The Source Water Collaborative, 25 national organizations united to protect America’s sources of drinking water.