Wadley

What it means: Community water systems must deliver an annual water quality report (Consumer Confidence Report) to all customers by July 1, covering the previous year. It must list all detected contaminants, compare them to MCLs, identify source water, and include educational language about lead. A violation means the report was not delivered on time or was incomplete.

Health effects: No direct health risk — this is an administrative transparency obligation. Failure means customers lack information to make informed decisions (e.g., whether to use bottled water for infants when lead is elevated).

Limit: No MCL — this is a reporting requirement

What it means: The 2013 RTCR (effective 2016) replaced the original TCR. It triggers automatic E. coli testing whenever total coliform is found. A single E. coli-positive sample is an acute MCL violation. It also requires systems exceeding 5% total coliform-positive samples to conduct a formal assessment and correct any deficiencies, helping prevent contamination before it escalates.

Health effects: Total coliform bacteria indicate that the disinfection barrier has been breached or fecal contamination is entering the system. E. coli specifically indicates fecal contamination and the possible presence of disease-causing pathogens (norovirus, Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter). Illness can be severe in elderly, young children, and immunocompromised individuals.

Limit: Zero E. coli; ≤5% of monthly samples total coliform-positive