Every "community water system" serving at least 15 service connections and/or 25 people year round must prepare and distribute a CCR. These systems typically include rural water systems, towns, homeowner associations and trailer parks. In the case where a rural water system provides service to a town, the town would be considered the retailer and the rural water system the wholesaler. In this case, the rural water system must provide the town with monitoring data that will enable the town to produce its own CCR.

While there are specific requirements for what needs to be included in each CCR, suppliers are encouraged to tailor their content to local conditions. The following basic requirements apply:

• Water system information - name, phone number, contact person
• Sources of water - type, name and location of water source
• Definitions - explanation of appropriate acronyms used in the report
• Detected Contaminants - table summarizing data on detected contaminants, their suspected source and potential health effects
• Compliance with other drinking water regulations - explanation of violations, health effects and steps taken to correct these violations
• Educational information - explanation of contaminants and their presence in drinking water, warning about cryptosporidium, and information statements on arsenic, nitrate and lead