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Water: ucmr2

Reporting UCMR2

Similar to Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation 1 (UCMR 1) reporting, laboratories responsible for sample analysis will post data, and PWSs will review and act upon data, through the Safe Drinking Water Accession and Review System (SDWARS). Users access SDWARS through the Central Data Exchange (CDX), EPA's electronic reporting system.

Public water systems (PWSs) that are subject to UCMR 2 need to be aware of the requirements of the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) Rule and the Public Notification (PN) Rule. The CCR rule requires that community water systems (CWS) report monitoring results when unregulated contaminants are detected (40 CFR 141.151). The PN rule requires that water systems notify the public that the results are available (40 CFR 141.207). For further information please refer to:

Key Reporting Dates

  • Regulation Publication Date of January 4, 2007 Deadlines for Reporting Prior to Monitoring
    • April 4, 2007 : PWSs serving more than 10,000 people must report contact information to SDWARS
    • August 2 , 2007: PWSs serving more than 10,000 people must
      1. review and if necessary revise sampling location information; and
      2. review and if necessary revise monitoring schedule in SDWARS
    • After August 2, 2007: PWSs serving more than 10,000 people must
      1. notify EPA of sampling location and inventory changes; and
      2. notify EPA if unable to sample according to the established schedule
  • Reporting Monitoring Results
    • 120 Days from Sample Collection: Labs post monitoring results to EPA's electronic reporting system, SDWARS
    • 60 Days from Lab Posting of Data: PWSs serving more than 10,000 people review and act upon data

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Questions and answers on reporting

What will water systems serving less than 10,001 people need to do?
EPA will collect and review monitoring results for PWSs serving less than 10,001 people. After review, EPA will issue reports to the PWSs, and send a copy of the report to respective state. PWSs should save the report as their official record.

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What will water systems serving more than 10,000 people need to do?
These PWSs must monitor for unregulated contaminants, and have received detailed information on accessing SDWARS through CDX.

PWSs must report contact information to EPA through SDWARS by 90 days after publication in the Federal Register.

PWSs should review and if necessary revise their monitoring schedule established by EPA, and must provide inventory information for each applicable sampling location by 210 days after publication in the Federal Register. This is all done through SDWARS.

In addition, PWSs have the responsibility to approve and submit analytical results to EPA using SDWARS. PWSs have 60 days after a laboratory posts data to act upon their monitoring data. If the PWS does not act upon their data within those 60 days from the laboratory’s posting date, EPA will consider the data approved by the PWS and available to EPA for review prior to public release. After EPA review, UCMR 2 data will reside in:

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What will laboratories need to do?
Laboratories are required to obtain EPA laboratory approval prior to analyzing and reporting results to SDWARS. Laboratories are only permitted to post data for methods for which they have gained EPA approval. To gain EPA approval, laboratories must successfully complete the EPA Laboratory Approval Program.

Laboratories granted EPA laboratory approval are obligated to report their data to SDWARS within 120 days of sample collection. They will have the option of submitting electronic files through CDX or entering results directly into Web forms on SDWARS. Instructions on submitting data can be found in SDWARS.

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What will states need to do?
States participating in UCMR 2 have an opportunity to review PWS data within 60 days from approval. States can review data through SDWARS.

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Additional reporting questions can be found in the following document.

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Data Elements for UCMR 2

Data Element Definition
Public Water System Identification (PWSID) Code

Code used to identify each PWS. Code begins with standard 2-character postal State abbreviation or Region code, and the remaining 7 numbers are unique to each PWS in the State.

This is part of PWS inventory.
Public Water System Facility Identification Code

Identification code used to identify each applicable facility (i.e., for each source of water, treatment plant, distribution system, or any other facility associated with water treatment or delivery) within each PWS. Code is a 5-digit unique number.

This is part of PWS inventory.
Water Source Type

Type of source water that supplies a water system facility. Systems must report one of the following codes for each water system facility:

  • SW = surface water (water facilities that are served all or in part by a surface water source)
  • GW = ground water (water facilities that are served entirely by a ground water source)
  • GU = ground water under the direct influence of surface water (water facilities that are served all or in part by ground water under the direct influence of surface water)
  • MX = any combination of the three above water types
This is part of PWS inventory.
Sampling Point Identification Code

Identification code unique within each applicable facility, for each applicable sampling location (i.e., entry point to the distribution system or distribution system sample at maximum residence time).

This is part of PWS inventory.
Sampling Point Type Identification Code

Identification code corresponding to location of the sample point.

  • EP = entry point to the distribution system
  • MR = distribution system sample at maximum residence time
This is part of PWS inventory.
Disinfectant Residual Type

Type of disinfectant used to maintain a residual in the distribution system for each Screening Survey sample point. PWSs must report using the following codes for each Screening Survey sampling location (i.e., EP, MR):

  • CL = chlorine
  • CA = chloramine
  • OT = all other types of disinfectant (e.g., chlorine dioxide)
  • ND = no disinfectant used

This is part of the PWS inventory.

* Sample Collection Date

Date the sample is collected, reported as month, day and year (i.e., 01152008).

* Sample Identification Code

Alphanumeric value up to 30 characters assigned by the laboratory to uniquely identify samples collected at a sample location.

* Contaminant

Unregulated contaminant for which the sample is being analyzed.

* Analytical Method Code

Identification code of the analytical method used.

* Sample Analysis Type

Type of sample collected and/or prepared, with the fortification level. Permitted values include:

  • FS = field sample; sample collected and submitted for analysis
  • LFSM = laboratory fortified sample matrix; field sample with a known amount of the contaminant of interest added
  • LFSMD = laboratory fortified sample matrix duplicate; duplicate of the laboratory fortified sample matrix
  • CF = concentration fortified; reported with sample analysis types LFSM and LFSMD; concentration of a known contaminant added to a field sample

* Analytical Results - Sign

Value indicating whether the sample analysis result was:

  • (<) "less than" means the contaminant was not detected, or was detected at a level below the minimum reporting level
  • (=) "equal to" means the contaminant was detected at the level reported in "Analytical Result - Value"

* Analytical Result - Value

Numeric value of the analysis for the contaminant for: field samples; laboratory fortified matrix samples; laboratory fortified sample matrix duplicates; and concentration fortified.

* Laboratory Identification Code

Assigned by EPA, the code used to identify each laboratory. Code begins with the standard two-character State postal abbreviation; the remaining 5 numbers are unique to each laboratory in the State.

* Sample Event Code

Code represents each sample event. This will associate samples with the PWS schedule to allow EPA to track compliance and completeness. The following codes should be used to associate analytical results with the monitoring schedule:

  • SE1 = represents samples collected to meet the UCMR monitoring requirement for the first sampling period (all source types)
  • SE2 = represents samples collected to meet the UCMR monitoring requirement for the second sampling period (all source types)
  • SE3 = represents samples collected to meet the UCMR monitoring requirement for the third sampling period  (surface water and ground water under the direct influence of surface water (GWUDI) sources only)
  • SE4 = represents samples collected to meet the UCMR monitoring requirement for the fourth sampling period (surface water and GWUDI sources only)


* Data elements reported by the laboratory.

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