DC Water is delivering award-winning tap water, according to a recent public water taste test hosted by the Chesapeake Section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the largest water industry organization in the U.S. Each year, AWWA organizes regional taste tests around the country, and winners compete in the national competition at the annual AWWA conference. As the grand prize winner in this year’s regional taste test, DC tap water will be judged with other regional winners by a panel of water experts at the ACE14 Conference on June 10, 2014 in Boston.

Winning the regional taste test came as no surprise after results from several taste tests during National Drinking Water Week confirmed that most participants prefer the taste of DC tap water to bottled water. At the Dupont Circle Fresh Farm Market, nearly 200 participants challenged their taste buds, and 66 percent of the participants preferred the taste of tap water or could not tell the difference between bottled and tap water. DC Water hosted similar taste tests at its offices and challenged employees to participate in the blind taste test. With more than 300 contestants, 73% of participating employees preferred the taste of tap water or could not distinguish between the two samples.

These results reinforce our claim that tap water is the most economical, sustainable and delicious water choice in the District. Still need convincing? Participate in our Water Wednesday Taste Test Challenge this summer, hosted in a different ward every week in July and August. The Bottled vs. Tap Taste Test Challenge aims to engage customers about the quality of their drinking water and encourages them to choose tap water. DC tap water is conveniently available at home for about a penny per gallon and for free throughout the District as part of the TapIt Metro D.C. network —www.freetapwater.org.

About DC Water
The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) is a multi-jurisdictional utility that provides drinking water to more than 600,000 residential, commercial and governmental customers in the District of Columbia, 17.8 million annual visitors and 700,000 people employed in the city. DC Water provides wastewater services to 1.6 million customers in the District, Montgomery and Prince Georges counties in Maryland and Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia. Drinking Water is treated by the Washington Aqueduct after it is collected from the Potomac River. DC Water and the Washington Aqueduct work closely to ensure that water meets or surpasses all federal drinking water standards. To learn more about DC Water, visit www.dcwater.com/drinking_water.