The 24th Annual International Water Tasting took place Saturday in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., and a Canadian town walked away with the trophy for Best
Municipal Tap Water.
Among the judges for this year’s competition was West Virginia Public Broadcasting Executive Director Scott Finn, who documented the event including a popular activity after the winners are announced, the “water rush” where members of the audience get to grab as much free bottled water as they can carry.
Wild scramble for free water at #watertasting pic.twitter.com/jD8fionhzt
— Scott Finn (@radiofinn) February 23, 2014
The winners in each category are:
Best Municipal Water 2014
Best in the World – Clearbrook, BC, Canada
Best in USA – Santa Ana, Calif.
2nd – Hamilton, Oh.
3rd – Greenwood, BC, Canada
4th (tie)– Dickinson, ND & Montpelier, Oh.
5th – Emporia, Kan.
Best Bottled Water 2014
1st – Castle Rock Water, Dunsmuir, Calif.
2nd – Eldorado Natural Spring Water, Eldorado, Col.
Samaria Natural Springs Water, Crete, Greece
3rd – Mountain Drop from Linthicum, Md. bottling Berkeley Springs water.
4th – Avita Premium Artesian Alkaline Water, Roscommon, Mich.
Element , Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia
Best Sparkling – 2014
1st – Canadian Gold Sparkling Mineral Water, Marchand, MB, Canada
2nd. Jackson Springs Natural Premium Spring Water, MB, Canada
3rd – Antipodes, Whakatane, New Zealand
4th – Tesanjski Dijament, Tesanj, Bosnia
Naked Luxury Artesian Water, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
Tesanjski Kiseljak, Tesanj, Bosnia
Best Packaging — 2014
1st – Hallasu, Republic of Korea
2nd – Bama Tianshou Spring, Bama, China
3rd – Waiakea, Kea’au Aquifer, Hawaii
4th – Cerebellum H2O, Hoboken, N.J.
5th – Marvelus Sparkling Mineral Water, Ocala, Fla.
Best Purified Drinking Water – 2014
1st – Mountain Drop from Linthicum, Md. bottling Berkeley Springs water.
2nd – Indigo H2O, Elkhart, Ind.
Bar H2O, Richmond, Mich.
3rd — Berkeley Springs Purified Water – Berkeley Springs, W.Va.
January Sales, Barnston QE, Canada.
4th — Rain Fresh Oxygen-Rich Purified Water – Garland, Tex.