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Bottled and Vended Water Systems, Retail Water Facilities and Bulk Water Haulers (BVRB)

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulates BVRB systems under the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act. The Safe Drinking Water Act and Regulations require that a permit be obtained from DEP for the construction and operation of a public water system, which is defined in title 25 Pa Code Section 109.1 as “A system which provides water to the public for human consumption which has at least 15 service connections or regularly serves an average of at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days out of the year. The term includes collection, treatment, storage and distribution facilities under the control of the operator of the system and used in connection with the system.

Information on all currently approved Pennsylvania permitted BVRB systems is available at DEP Drinking Water Reporting Systems (DWRS). The DWRS is a searchable database that is refreshed daily with information on all public water systems (PWSs) permitted by DEP. DWRS can be used to search by system types, sizes or sources. It can also be used to find system-specific information such as inventory information, monitoring requirements, and sample and violation histories.

Instructions on accessing and using the Drinking Water Reporting System

  1. When using DWRS, DEP recommends the use of Internet Explorer.
  2. Do not use the “Back” or “Forward” buttons/options from your web browser to move between Screens. Use the gray “Back” buttons in the DWRS application to return to a previous screen. Use the gray ”Clear” button to clear any selection criteria you have chosen.
  3. Go to www.drinkingwater.state.pa.us
  4. Click on “Drinking Water Reporting System”
  5. Once you open the page, click on either Selection Criteria (on the top of the page) or Continue to DWRS (on the bottom of the page).

To search for information on a specific public water system:

There are two ways to search for information on a specific public water system. The first way is by using the water system’s unique ID#.

  • Select Public Water System ID
    • Enter the 7-digit Public Water System ID#
    • Use the dropdown menu labeled "Information Request” to select the type of information you need about that system.
    • Click on “Submit.”
  • Click on/highlight the name of the specific water system to select the system and use the Drop down menu labeled “Select Inventory Data Report” to select the specific information you need about that system.
    • Click on “Submit.”

The other way to search for information on a specific public water system is by using a Key Word in the system’s name.

  • Select Public Water System Name
    • Enter the key word in the water system’s name (ex: “Harrisburg”)
    • Use the dropdown menu labeled “Information Request” to select the type of Information you need about that system.
    • Click on “Submit.”
  • Click on/highlight the name of the specific water system to select the system and use the Drop down menu labeled “Select Inventory Data Report” to select the specific information you need about that system.
    • Click on “Submit.”

To search for information on a group of public water systems:

  • Select Public Water Systems’ Details
    • Use the menus to select system details including activity, type, source, population and county
    • Use the dropdown menu labeled “Information Request” to select the type of information you need about the system(s).
    • Click on “Submit.”
  • Click on/highlight the name of the specific water system(s) to select the system(s) and use the Drop down menu labeled “Select Inventory Data Report” to select the specific information you need about the system(s).
    • Click on “Submit.”

Use the scroll bar at the bottom on the search results report page to see all of the columns generated by your search.

NOTE: A limitation of the system does not allow the generation of statewide lists. Users seeking lists of State wide information would have to search for portions of the information in DWRS either alphabetically or by county and then download and combine the searches into statewide information.

The information generated by a search of the DWRS can be downloaded using the gray buttons on the bottom of the search results report. The “Use the Download CSV – Current Page Only” button will export the information to an Excel spreadsheet. The “Get PDF - Current Page Only” button will generate a pdf file.