Connecticut company wins best bottled water award at international tasting contest
Plastic bottles are shown in a file image. (Photo by Karol Serewis/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va - An Ohio water district has won the top prize for U.S. tap water at an international tasting contest.
Montpelier, Ohio, took home first place for Best Municipal Water on Saturday at the 32nd annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting in West Virginia. It beat out last year's winner, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which placed second. Another California entry, the Mission Springs Water District, was third.
All three have won the gold medal previously.
"The consistency in winners from year to year with different panels of judges validates the choices," water expert Arthur von Wiesenberger said in a statement. "It also speaks to the impressively high caliber of the waters entered."
The top bottled water award went to Vortex Energy of Meriden, Connecticut. Halstead Springs of Speedwell, Tennessee, finished second and there was a tie for third between Asagiri no Shizuku of Shizuka, Japan, and Smeraldina Still Water of Sardinia, Italy.
The sparkling water gold medal went to Big West Sparkling Spring Water of Victoria, Australia.
Judges based their rankings on taste, odor, mouth feel and aftertaste. Nine judges chose from among entries in 16 states, three Canadian provinces and eight other countries.
Waters use a win in Berkeley Springs for bragging rights and often redesign their labels to include the gold, silver, or bronze medal. Over a dozen entrants in the 2022 contest sported a medal decorated label.
Here are all the rankings:
Best Municipal Water – 2022
1st – Village of Montpelier, OH
2nd – Metropolitan Water District of Southern CA
3rd – Mission Springs Water District, Desert Hot Springs, CA
4th — Fort Wayne, IN
5th – Hamilton, OH
Best Non-carbonated Water – 2022
1st – Vortex Energy, Meriden, CT
2nd – Halstead Springs, Speedwell, TN
Tie 3rd – Asagiri no Shizuku, Shizuka, Japan
Tie 3rd – Smeraldina Still Water, Sardinia, Italy
Tie 4th – Theoni Natural Mineral Water, Karditsa, Greece
Tie 4th – Grand Springs Spring Water, Alton, VA
Best Sparkling Water – 2022
1st – Big Wet Sparkling Spring Water, Victoria, Australia
Tie 2nd – Boston Clear Water, Lynnfield, MA
Tie 2nd – Vortex Energy, Meriden, CT
3rd – Aqua To Go Sparkling Natural Spring Water, Victoria, Australia
4th – Antipodes Water, Otakiri, Whakatane, New Zealand
Best Purified Drinking Water – 2022
1st – Ophora Hyper-Oxygenated Water, Santa Barbara, CA
2nd – Hamilton On Tap, Hamilton, OH
3rd – Lesage Natural, Lesage, WV
People’s Choice Package Design – 2022
1st – Hawaiian Springs Natural Artesian Water, Kea’au, HI
2nd – Antipodes Water, Otakiri, Whakatane, New Zealand
3rd – Babinda Springs, Babinda, Queensland, Australia
4th – Svalbarði Polar Iceberg Water Jade Edition, Longyearbyen, Norway
5th – Smeraldina Water, Sardinia, Italy
With the Associated Press