Town of The Blue Mountains Wins Best Tasting Tap Water in American Water Works Association Annual Competition

Ontario Section Submission takes home ACE19 prize


DENVER, June 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Water Works Association’s Annual Conference and Exhibition (ACE19) hosts an annual event called the “Best Tasting Water Competition”. Entries are submitted by local sections throughout North America. Section submissions must have won their provincial/state contest in order to be submitted to ACE. The contest takes municipal tap water samples, and judges them to determine the best tasting municipal tap water supply.

On May 8, 2019 at Ontario’s Water Conference & Trade Show, the Town of The Blue Mountains took home the section prize after competing with 7 other municipalities in Ontario. Accepting the award was new Ontario Water Works Association (OWWA) President and Director of Infrastructure & Public Works at the Town of The Blue Mountains, Reg Russwurm.

The Town’s municipal water submission travelled to Denver, Colorado for the AWWA Annual Event. A panel of esteemed judges included local public figures and flavour-profile analyzers to determine the “Best of the Best” tasting water in North America. The runner-up submission was submitted by Sugar Land, Texas, with the Town of The Blue Mountains taking first place. This is the first time a Canadian Utility has won the prize.

The Thornbury Water Treatment Plant (WTP) is owned by the Corporation of the Town of The Blue Mountains and is operated by employees of the Town. The existing WTP, put into service in 1978, supplies water to the Town of The Blue Mountains and has a rated capacity of 15,140 m³/day. The WTP has the following components: intake, low lift pumps, strainers, three membrane trains, clearwell, high lift pumps, ultraviolet disinfection, gas chlorine disinfection, backwash wastewater system and dechlorination of wastewater to the Little Beaver River stream.

Ontario Water Works Association
www.owwa.ca
Samantha Buch, Programs Manager
sbuch@owwa.ca
1-416-231-1555