What waterdepartmentguide.org/ Is — and Is Not
Plain-English statement of what this site is, what it is not, what we can and cannot do for you, the FCRA non-CRA status, the limits of department-directory content, and the limits of our liability. Read this in conjunction with our Terms of Service.
Life-threatening emergency (gas smell from a flooded utility room, electrical hazard from flooding, structural collapse, injury): call 911 first.
Water main break, no water service, sewer back-up, flooding from a city main: call your water department’s 24/7 emergency line (printed on your bill).
Suspected ingestion of a contaminant: call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 (24/7, free, confidential).
Suspected water-quality problem: call your water department AND your state drinking water primacy agency.
1. We are an editorial directory. Not the EPA, not any state primacy agency, not any state Public Utility Commission, not your water department.
2. We do not provide water service. We do not send bills, accept payments, or have access to your account.
3. We are NOT a Consumer Reporting Agency under FCRA. Do not use this site for credit, tenant-screening, employment, insurance, or utility-deposit decisions.
4. We do not give legal advice. Consult an attorney licensed in your state.
5. Verify with the department before relying. Department directors, governing-body composition, and customer service numbers change.
6. Our directory is informational. Public information, used for general reference, not for any FCRA permissible-purpose decision.
7. Our liability is capped at $100. See Terms of Service for the full clause, governed by Delaware law.
What is on this page
1. Nature of the Site
waterdepartmentguide.org/ is an independent editorial publisher of a US water department directory. We are NOT:
- the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- any state drinking water primacy agency (whether located in the state Department of Health, Department of Environment, Department of Natural Resources, or elsewhere)
- any state Public Utility Commission (PUC) or Public Service Commission (PSC)
- the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
- the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), the National Rural Water Association (NRWA), or the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA)
- any specific water department, holding company, billing technology vendor (Tyler MUNIS, Cayenta, InvoiceCloud, Paymentus, Harris ERP, CIS Infinity, etc.), or payment processor
- a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) under FCRA
- a furnisher of consumer-report information under FCRA § 623
- a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
- a tenant-screening service
- a credit-reporting service
- a utility-deposit decision service
- a licensed attorney or law firm
- an authorized representative or agent of any department, regulator, or government body
2. Not a Consumer Reporting Agency Under FCRA — Critical
The Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., regulates Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) that compile and furnish "consumer reports" used for FCRA "permissible purposes" — credit, employment, insurance, tenant screening, utility-deposit determinations, government licensing, child-support enforcement, and a small number of other uses set out in FCRA § 604, 15 U.S.C. § 1681b. waterdepartmentguide.org/ does not compile, sell, or furnish "consumer reports." We do not have account-level information about any individual. We are an editorial publisher that describes water departments. Do not use this site for any FCRA permissible purpose. Permissible-purpose decisions must be made on consumer reports furnished by FCRA-regulated CRAs, with the FCRA-required disclosures (FCRA § 604(b) for employment), pre-adverse-action notices, and adverse-action notices under FCRA § 615, 15 U.S.C. § 1681m. Using public water-department directory information as a basis for any consumer-report-style decision is unlawful and may expose the user to FCRA civil liability under 15 U.S.C. § 1681n (willful) and § 1681o (negligent).
3. Not the Department, Not a Substitute for the Department
For anything specific to your service, your account, your bill, your meter, your service start or stop, your CCR, your lead service line inventory status at your address, or any other account-specific matter, the route is your water department — not waterdepartmentguide.org/.
We describe departments. We do not act as a department. We do not have access to billing systems (Tyler MUNIS, Cayenta, Harris ERP, CIS Infinity, etc.). We do not have access to payment processor accounts (Paymentus, InvoiceCloud). We cannot look up your bill or process a payment. The lawful, protected route to your account is via the department’s own customer service line, online portal, in-person office, or written request.
4. Not for Individual Credit, Tenant-Screening, Employment, Insurance, or Utility-Deposit Decisions
Decisions about an individual person — whether to extend credit, whether to rent to a tenant, whether to hire an employee, whether to underwrite an insurance policy, whether to require a utility deposit — that use information characterized as a “consumer report” must follow FCRA. Decisions of those kinds based on water-account history specifically may also implicate state utility-deposit-rule statutes, state tenant-screening laws (California’s AB 2557 framework, New Jersey’s tenant-screening law, and analogous state laws), and the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq.) and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA, 15 U.S.C. § 1691). Public department directory information is not a substitute for FCRA-compliant consumer reports. Do not use it that way.
5. Public Information and Limits on Its Use
US water department details — office address, customer service phone, director name, governing body, public meeting schedule, CCR — are public information, published by the department itself, by the parent city or county, by EPA’s SDWIS, and by state primacy agencies. That public status does not eliminate restrictions on use:
- FCRA applies when public information is combined with account-level information used for a “permissible purpose” decision
- State utility-deposit rules govern when and how departments can require deposits
- State tenant-screening laws govern how landlords can use utility account history
- Fair Housing Act and state fair-housing laws prohibit discrimination in housing
- State data-breach notification laws apply when combined with personal identifiers
Public ≠ unrestricted.
6. Not Legal, Financial, Insurance, or Other Professional Advice
Nothing on this site is legal, financial, insurance, real-estate, or other professional advice. We are not licensed attorneys (state bar regulated), not licensed financial advisers (SEC / FINRA / state-regulated), not insurance producers, not real-estate brokers or agents, not tax professionals. For specific advice, consult an appropriately regulated professional in your state.
7. Accuracy and the Verification Caveat
We work to a strict manual-verification standard — every department URL clicked, every emergency line dial-tested quarterly, every governing body attribution cross-checked against the parent jurisdiction’s organizational chart. We are nevertheless an editorial publisher, not the department or the regulator. Department details change frequently — directors retire and are appointed, council and commission seats turn over after elections, billing-portal vendors migrate, emergency-line numbers change, and CCR publication URLs change.
If a detail on our site and the department’s own published page disagree, the department’s page is authoritative. Tell us — we re-verify and update.
8. Third-Party Content and Links
The site links extensively to the EPA, state primacy agencies, state PUCs, individual water departments, parent municipalities, AWWA, NACWA, NRWA, ASDWA, and other third-party sites. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content, availability, accuracy, or privacy practices. A link is not an endorsement.
9. US Regulatory Framework Reminder
US water regulation is layered: EPA enforces the SDWA at the federal level (with primacy delegated to 49 states + Navajo Nation); state primacy agencies enforce at the state level; state PUCs / PSCs regulate rates for investor-owned utilities; local governing bodies set rates for municipal and PUD departments; FTC and CFPB regulate consumer protection and credit-related practices. We cite specific federal or state frameworks when we describe service-level procedures, but we are not a source of authoritative interpretation — the relevant statutory body or the department itself is.
10. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law: we are not liable for any indirect, consequential, special, incidental, or exemplary loss arising from your use of the site or your reliance on any content — specifically including but not limited to any FCRA / state-privacy-law / fair-housing-law / state-utility-deposit-rule violation incurred by using this site for any permissible-purpose decision, any failure or delay in paying a water bill, any service shut-off, any water quality concern, any decision to attend or not contact a department, or any other loss connected to use of the site. Aggregate liability to any user is capped at one hundred US dollars ($100). See Terms of Service for the full clause, governed by the laws of the State of Delaware.
Nothing in this Disclaimer or our Terms of Service excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot be lawfully excluded or limited under the laws of the State of Delaware or any other applicable US state law.
11. Contact
For corrections, takedowns, privacy-rights requests, or general inquiries: info@waterdepartmentguide.org
Questions or Corrections?
Email us with a clear subject line. We respond to corrections within 7 business days, with a 48-hour expedited path for broken department URLs and out-of-date emergency phone numbers.
📧 info@waterdepartmentguide.org