Town of The Blue Mountains wins Best of the Best Water Taste Test

(DENVER) – The American Water Works Association announced today that the Town of The Blue Mountains of Thornbury, Ontario has won the 14th annual Best of the Best Water Taste Test. The event, which was sponsored by IXOM, was composed of regional winners from water tasting competitions and was held at AWWA’s Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE19) in Denver.

Second place in the taste test went to the City of Sugar Land, Texas. Third place in the competition went to the City of Bozeman, Mont. The People’s Choice award winner, as determined by the conference attendees, was awarded to EPCOR in Edmonton, Alberta.  

The Thornbury Water Treatment Plant (WTP) is owned by the Corporation of the Town of The Blue Mountains and is operated by employees of the Town. The existing WTP, put into service in 1978, supplies water to the Town of The Blue Mountains and has a rated capacity of 15,140 m³/day. The WTP has the following components: intake, low lift pumps, strainers, three membrane trains, clearwell, high lift pumps, ultraviolet disinfection, gas chlorine disinfection, backwash wastewater system and dechlorination of wastewater to the Little Beaver River stream.

Other Best of the Best participants in today’s competition included: Alderwood Water & Wastewater District, Lynnwood, Wash.; Aqua Pennsylvania’s Bristol Surface Water Treatment Plant, Bryn Mawr, Penn.; Board of Water Works of Pueblo, Colo.; City of Ames Water & Pollution Control Department, Iowa; City of Baltimore, Md.; City of Batavia, Ill.; City of Bismarck, N.D.; City of Cadillac, Mich.; City of Chaska, Minn.; City of O’Fallon, Mo.; City of Sioux Falls – Water Division, S.D.; Dracut Water Supply District, Dracut, Mass.; Elmer Water Department, Elmer, N.J.; Hardin County Water District No. 1, Radcliff, Ky.; Leeds Water Works Board, Leeds, Ala.; Madison Water Utility, Madison, Wis.;  Newton County Water System, Covington, Ga.; North Platte Water Department, North Platte, Neb.; Spotsylvania County Utilities/Public Works, Fredericksburg, Va.; Talquin Water and Wastewater, Inc. – Meadows Regional Water System, Quincy, Fla.; Vera Water and Power, Spokane Valley, Wash.; WaterOne, Kansas City, Kan.; West Virginia American Water – Kanawha Valley Water Treatment Plant, Charleston, W. Va.; Wyoming Water Works, Wyoming, Ohio.

An esteemed judging panel rated each water system on its flavor characteristics.

ACE19, which has brought an estimated 12,000 water experts to Denver, is the longest-running water conference in the world, having first convened in 1881. The event features expert presentations and an exposition of companies showcasing the latest innovations in water technology.

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Established in 1881, the American Water Works Association is the largest nonprofit, scientific and educational association dedicated to managing and treating water, the world’s most important resource. With approximately 51,000 members, AWWA provides solutions to improve public health, protect the environment, strengthen the economy and enhance our quality of life.