An Ohio water district has won the top prize for U.S. tap water at an international tasting contest.
Montpelier, Ohio, took home first place for Best Municipal Water on Saturday at the 32nd annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting in West Virginia. It beat out last year's winner, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which placed second. Another California entry, the Mission Springs Water District, was third."The consistency in winners from year to year with different panels of judges validates the choices,".
The top bottled water award went to Vortex Energy of Meriden, Connecticut. Halstead Springs of Speedwell, Tennessee, finished second and there was a tie for third between Asagiri no Shizuku of Shizuka, Japan, and Smeraldina Still Water of Sardinia, Italy.Judges based their rankings on taste, odor, mouth feel and aftertaste. Nine judges chose from among entries in 16 states, three Canadian provinces and eight other countries.
Waters use a win in Berkeley Springs for bragging rights and often redesign their labels to include the gold, silver, or bronze medal. Over a dozen entrants in the 2022 contest sported a medal decorated label.