ANAHEIM, CA, June 11, 2015 -- The American Water Works Association (AWWA) announced that the Big Sky County Water & Sewer District of Big Sky, Mont., has won the 11th annual "Best of the Best" Tap Water Taste Test. The event, composed of regional winners from water-tasting competitions across North America, was held at the organization's Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE15), which took place June 7-10 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Second place in the competition was given to Universal City, Texas, while third place was a tie between the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority and last year's champions, the Boston Water and Sewer Commission. The People's Choice award winner, as determined by the conference attendees, went to Champlain Water District of South Burlington, Vt.
Other "Best of the Best" participants included: Arcadia Water Utility, Arcadia, Wisc.; City of Anaheim Public Utilities Department, Anaheim, Calif.; City of Chelsea, Mich.; City of Fargo, N.D.; City of Hamilton, Ohio; Latham Water District, Latham, N.Y.; City of Tallahassee Underground Utilities, Tallahassee, Fla.; City of Tulsa, Okla.; City of Universal City, Texas; Chester Water Authority, Chester, Penn.; Duck River Utility Commission, Tullahoma, Tenn.; and Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, Herriman, Utah.
More also involved: Georgetown County Water & Sewer District, Pawley's Island, S.C.; Henry County Water Authority, Jackson, Ga.; Leeds Water Works Board, Leeds, Ala.; Lincoln Water System, Lincoln, Neb.; Merchantville Pennsauken Water Commission, Pennsauken, N.J.; Moorhead Public Service, Moorhead, Minn.; North Park Public Water District, Machesney, Ill.; Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, San Juan, P.R.; Spotsylvania County Utilities, Fredericksburg, Va.; Valley Water District, Puyallup, Wash.; Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, Laurel, Md.; WaterOne, Kansas City, Kan., and West Virginia American Water, Charleston, W.V.
An esteemed judging panel rated each water system on its flavor characteristics. Judges included James Naylor, project manager at Alan Plummer Associates; Cliff Shrive, senior principal for Stantec Consulting and Patrick Planton, senior principal for Short Elliott Hendrickson. This is the eleventh year AWWA has held the national competition. Previous winners are Boston Water and Sewer Commission (2014), Oklahoma City Water and Wastewater Utility (2007 and 2013), Fremont, Neb. (2012), Greenville, S.C. (2011), Stevens Point, Wis. (2010), Macon (Ga.) Water Authority (2009), Louisville (Ky.) Water Company (2008) and Illinois American Water, Champaign District (2006 and 2005).
See also:
"ACE15 Preview: Anaheim Hosts Annual Water Expo"
"ACE 15 Exhibitor Products"
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