Who would have ever thought that an international water tasting event would take place… in West Virginia? Certainly not anyone here at Water Testing Blog, but then again, we never claimed to know everything… and we never will.
February 27, 2010 – A municipal water from the Ohio was named Best Municipal Water in the World during the 20th annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting.
Tap water from Hamilton, OH, beat out 43 global competitors to win first place. Last year Hamilton’s water was named best in the United States.
Waters were tasted in four separate flights over two days. 12 judges spent Saturday afternoon and evening tasting finalists in four categories: municipal, bottled, sparkling and purified drinking water.
About 200 people attended Saturday evening’s competition at Berkeley Springs’ The Country Inn. Audience members voted on which waters had the best packaging.
Best Municipal Water 2010
- Best in the World — Hamilton, Ohio
- 2nd place – Beaver Falls, British Columbia
- 3rd – Greenwood, British Columbia
- 4th – Lansing, MI
- 5th – Daytona Beach, FL (gold medal winner in 2005)
Best Bottled Water 2010
- 1st–Ecoviva, Roscommon, MI
- 2nd – Eldorado Natural Spring Water, Eldorado Springs, CO
- 3rd — Almost Heaven, Manassas,VA bottling Berkeley Springs water
- 4th – Denton Spring Water, North East, MD bottling Berkeley Springs water
- 5th – Real Water, Las Vegas, NV
Best Sparkling — 2010
- 1st– Dobra Voda Sparkling, Kratovo, Macedonia
- 2nd — Canadian Gold, Marchand, Manitoba, Canada
- 3rd – Touch Sparkling Spring Water, Marchand, Manitoba
- 4th – Antipodes, Whakatane, New Zealand
- 5th – Pian della Mussa, Village Baime, Italy
Purified Drinking Water — 2010
- 1st – Kittiwake Pure Water, Winnipeg, Manitoba
- 2nd – Crystal Mountain Water, Huntsville, Alabama
- 3rd — Berkeley Springs Purified Water, Berkeley Springs, WV
- 4th — Claire Baie, Oak Creek, WI
- 5th – Ultra Pure Reverse Osmosis Purified Water, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Best Packaging — 2010
- 1st – Bling H2O, Los Angeles, CA
- 2nd – Deep Origin, Whakatane, New Zealand
- 3rd – Climax Spring Water, Huntsville, Alabama
- 4th – Ecoviva, Roscommon, MI (a 100% biodegradable bottle and winner gold medal as best bottled water in the world.)
- 5th – Callaway Blue Spring Water, Hamilton, Georgia
( source )
For those of us not able to find products from the aforementioned winning companies in our local grocery stores, and/or people who refuse to support the bottled water industry, other ways to get safe, clean drinking water exist.
