Denver Water placed second in a taste test among water utilities across the nation at the American Water Works Association’s annual Best of the Best Water Taste in Washington, D.C.
“It’s pretty exciting to be able to represent Denver at a utility level,” said Melissa Elliott, the director of public affairs for Denver Water and a volunteer with AWWA who was at the competition in D.C.
Denver Water won a regional competition among Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico water utilities to get to the national competition, which featured 24 competitors from around the country.
The judges were Dr. Russell Ford, deputy director of drinking water infrastructure for CH2M Hill and vice chair of AWWA’s Taste and Odor Committee; Monique Durand, engineer at Hazen and Sawyer, P.C., and member of the Taste and Odor Committee; Dr. Andrea Dietrich, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech and past chair of the Taste and Odor Committee; and Neal Augenstein, reporter for Washington, D.C.’s WTOP Radio.
“They’re actually swilling the water around looking for the clarity and the after-taste,” Elliott said. “Our customers constantly tell us about our commitment to excellence of water and I think this really endorses that. We are proud of what we do.”
The top honors went to the Greenville Water System, of the city of Greenville, S.C.
“We’ll be trying again in September,” Elliott said. “We want to get first this time.”
Mitchell Byars: mbyars@denverpost.com
