Two California water agencies place in top three at International tasting event

The “largest and longest-running water tasting in the world” contest took place over the weekend in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. The 32nd annual International Water Tasting event judged more than forty waters in the non-carbonated category.

This year an Ohio water district took top prize for U.S. Best Municipal Water with two California agencies rounding out the top three.

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California placed second after winning the category in 2021 and the Mission Springs Water District in Desert Hot Springs, was third.

“The consistency in winners from year to year with different panels of judges validates the choices,” water expert Arthur von Wiesenberger said in a statement. “It also speaks to the impressively high caliber of the waters entered.”

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.

Judges include representatives from the Insider’s Guide to Spas, Wonderland Entertainment and the WV Department of Tourism, as well as journalists and freelance writers whose work appears in the Washington Post, Smithsonian and Woman’s World Magazines, among others, as well as podcasts and blogs.

A full list of the winners from 1991-2021 can be viewed here.