BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) — This year’s Berkeley Springs
International Water Tasting competition produced some familiar winners.
All
but one of the six best tasting municipal waters had won at Berkeley
Springs before, event organizers said late Saturday in a written
statement.
Once again, Canadian tap water from Clearbrook, British
Columbia, was deemed the best in the world. The top tap water in the
U.S. came from Santa Ana, Calif.
Greenwood, British Columbia, came
in third. Tied in fourth place were Dickinson, N.D., and Montpelier,
Ohio. The 2013 winner, Emporia, Kansas, came in fifth.
In the
bottled water competition, Castle Rock Water from Dunsmuir, Calif., beat
32 other entries for the title of world’s best. Eldorado Natural Spring
Water of Eldorado, Colo., and first time entrant, Samaria Natural
Springs Water from Crete, Greece, tied for second place.
Third
place went to Mountain Drop from Linthicum, Md., which bottles local
Berkeley Springs water. Tied for fourth were Element, of Vrnjacka Banja,
Serbia, and Avita Premium Artesian Alkaline Water from Roscommon, Mich.
The
competition took place just hours away from Charleston, where a Jan. 9
chemical spill tainted the tap water supply in nine counties.
The chemical spill fouled the air and tainted the faucets for 300,000 West Virginians last month with
licorice-smelling water.
There was no entry from Charleston. A panel discussion Friday brought attention to protecting municipal
water supplies.
Ten
judges tasted and selected from among dozens of waters from 18 states,
three Canadian provinces and 12 foreign nations. For the first time, an
African water was entered.
In a written statement, event founder Jeanne Mozier said, "Adding Tanzania gave us all five
continents."
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