The next time Oxford Village residents turn on their faucets to pour a tall, cold glass of refreshing water, they’ll being enjoying one of the best tasting municipal waters in the entire world.
Over the weekend, Oxford’s ground-pumped H20 took fourth place in the ‘Best Municipal Water 2011? category at the 21st annual Berkley Springs International Water Tasting competition, held in Berkley Springs, West Virginia.
‘I think that’s fabulous,? said village President Teri Stiles. ‘Hopefully, all the community funds that went into the new water (treatment) facility helped contribute to that. But it also, geologically, makes sense because we have that whole layer of gravel that purifies our water as it goes through the ground. Obviously, we’re getting the vitamins and minerals that we need from that.?
A total of 99 waters ? municipal, bottled, sparkling and purified ? from 23 states and 10 foreign countries competed.
Of those, 35 were municipal waters from 13 states and Canada.
Oxford Village was behind first place Daytona Beach, Florida; second place Desert Hot Springs, California; and third place Santa Ana, California.
The village’s water beat out former gold medal winner Kent, Ohio, which took fifth place this year.
Water is judged based on appearance, odor, flavor, mouth feel, aftertaste and overall impressions. Each of the 12 judges can award up to 44 points based on these criteria.
Out of a possible 528 points, Oxford’s water scored 407, which is a great score considering first place garnered 439 points.
One judge described the appearance of Oxford’s water as ‘clear? and the odor and flavor as ‘clean.?
Oxford Village’s water was entered in the competition by Artesian of Pioneer, Inc., the Ohio-based company that built the municipality’s $2.5 million water treatment plant on S. Glaspie St., which went on-line in May 2009.
‘As a courtesy to Oxford, we submitted their water for the contest,? said Michael Kidston, a sales associate for Artesian of Pioneer, Inc. ‘We’re approaching our 50th anniversary, so we wanted to give back to some of our communities that we’ve worked with.
‘I think you have good wells up in Oxford and a good source (of water). Obviously, our filter plant is removing some of the contaminants, which helps the taste.?
Kidston said his company’s ‘happy? to hear Oxford won and ‘we look forward to working with them in the future on their water plant.?
The village’s water system supplies approximately 1,400 customers.