Cortland Wins Best-Tasting Water Again
For the second consecutive year, the Village of Cortland has the best-tasting water in Nebraska, as determined by the six judges at the 2016 Fall Conference. Cortland does not chlorinate or otherwise treat the water. They plan to submit a sample in the "Best of the Best" taste test competition at the AWWA Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE) in Philadelphia in June.
Although Cortland was the overall winner, the City of Blair was voted the best tasting in the treated water category. This is the first year that Blair has earned that distinction.
Samples were submitted from the public water systems at Aurora, Blair, Cortland, Fremont, and Lincoln.
A panel of six judges were asked to rate the samples on a 1 to 10 scale on each of four characteristics: Appearance, scent, flavor, and aftertaste. The resulting point totals established the winning rankings.
Thanks to the judges who took the time during the social hour to taste and rate the water samples. The six judges were Kevin Bergschneider of National AWWA and HDR in Denver; Ben Day of Olsson Associates and the outgoing Nebraska Section Chair; Steve Hanna, a UNL grad student in Environmental Engineering; Laura Hardesty of the Cadmus Group; Howard Isaacs, the Nebraska Office of Drinking Water and Environmental Health Administrator; and Dean Muirhead, a Life Support Engineer for Barrios Technology Inc., working with NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
