The American Water Works Association announced during ACE21 All Virtual that the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) of Boston has won the 16th “Best of the Best” Water Taste Test. The event was comprised of regional AWWA section winners of water taste competitions.
Second place in the taste test went to the City of Fort Collins, Colorado, and third place went to the City of Bozeman, Montana, according to the AWWA press release.
MWRA is a public authority established by an act of the Massachusetts legislature in 1984 to provide wholesale water and sewer services to 3.1 million people in 61 metropolitan Boston communities. The Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs, with 412 and 65 billion-gallon capacities respectively, are the primary source reservoirs for MWRA drinking water customers.
Other Best of the Best section winners in the competition included: Central Arkansas Water, Little Rock, Arkansas; City of Adairsville, Georgia; City of Janesville Water Utility, Wisconsin; City of Lawrence, Kansas; Spotsylvania County Utilities/Public Works, Fredericksburg, Virginia; Sun Valley Water & Sewer District, Idaho; Talquin Electric, Water & Wastewater, Inc., Quincy, Florida; Town of the Blue Mountains, Thornbury, Ontario, Canada.
An esteemed judging panel rated each water system on its flavor characteristics. Judges included Frank Blaha, P.E., a regional liaison at The Water Research Foundation with projects emphasizing asset management, infrastructure management, distribution systems and distribution system water quality concerns, as well as security/resilience issues; Jordan Kelly, lab manager at Odell Brewing Company's Quality Lab, where she coordinates and executes analytical, microbial, and sensory testing; and Victor Sam, a project engineer at Stantec with a background in taste and odor, focusing on algal metabolite control and treatment.
