Denver has the second-best water in the nation, according to the American Water Works Association, which held a blind taste test with the liquid assets of more than twenty municipalities last month in Washington, D.C.
Denver was beaten out by Greenville, South Carolina, and shared second place with the town of Glencoe, Illinois, located on the shores of Lake Michigan.
This is the seventh year the AWWA has held the competition and the third that both Greenville and Denver participated. Every competitor is tested and ranked for flavor characteristics by experts with several committees, including the one specializing in taste and odor.
As for the South Carolina community's "Best of the Best" win, Frank Eskridge, director of government and public relations at Greenville Water, credits the town's teamwork. "We have wonderful, delicious water, and that is a result of a watershed we had protected years ago," he says. "We also have a hardworking staff that cares about the customers and properly prepares the water."
Both Denver and Greenville have mountain ranges that feed the city water supplies. "We're really fortunate to rely on mountain snowmelt for a lot of our water, and so when it comes from the pristine mountains, you're going to get a very good product," says Stacy Chesney, media-relations director for Denver Water. "We've got employees working 24-7, 365 days a year who are committed to running the water system and providing high-quality water."
Water that tastes so good, Denverites can hold on to their Nalgenes and their cash rather than add to the $15 billion that Americans spend on bottled water a year.
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