Blind taste test from American Water Works Association puts West Palm Beach on top
West Palm Beach, Fla., April 29, 2015 – As part of an annual competition among municipalities, the Region VI chapter of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) has awarded the City of West Palm Beach, Florida as the winner of its Best Tasting Drinking Water Contest. The contest, which presents a blind taste test of drinking water from municipalities throughout the region, recognizes the cities and towns with the best drinking water each year.
The City of West Palm Beach Water Treatment Plant
The City of West Palm Beach Water Treatment Plant (WTP) was awarded the honor on April 9, recognizing the city’s outstanding water treatment processes and production of high-quality drinking water for the city. In a blind taste test, the City’s drinking water was judged as best on the basis of color, clarity, taste and odor among 18 neighboring utilities in Palm Beach and Broward Counties. This award demonstrates that with process improvements and increased operator attention, the city’s drinking water not only meets all regulatory requirements for safety, but is also considered to be high quality.
To celebrate the award, Mayor Jeri Muoio raised a glass of water at a recent City Commission meeting and toasted WTP operators and staff. “To all who work in our city’s water utilities, and do such a great job, thank you for the good work you do.”
The city cites recent upgrades and improvements to its water treatment and infrastructure facilities as a driving factor for the recognition. In 2009, the city of West Palm Beach began work on a variety of water infrastructure improvement projects with the assistance of MWH Global, a premier solutions provider focused on water and natural resources. Numerous projects have contributed to modernization of the city’s aging water treatment systems including disinfection, reliability, better automation and operator training.
To continue to provide this excellent tasting water, the City has hired MWH to design a Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) treatment system to ensure removal of taste and odor causing compounds during seasonal variations in source water quality. Furthermore, to satisfy the requirements of a Consent Order from 2007, the City commission recently voted to move forward with design of a 50mgd state of the art ultraviolet (UV) treatment system and is currently finalizing the scope of work for this design with MWH.
The city of West Palm Beach will now take its award-winning water to compete at the state level. Regional winners throughout Florida will meet May 5 at the AWWA’s Florida Water Resources Conference in Orlando to decide which municipality has the best-tasting water in Florida.
About The City of West Palm Beach Utilities
The City of West Palm Beach Department of Public Utilities has served the residents of West Palm Beach, Fla., since 1955 when the WTP was purchased from the Henry Flagler Water Co. Scott Kelly, P.E., serves as Assistant City Administrator for the 300-employee utility which provides water, wastewater and stormwater services to the City of West Palm Beach, The City also serves retail water service to the towns of Palm Beach and South Palm Beach.
About Florida Section of the American Water Works Association
Established in 1881 by 22 dedicated water supply professionals, the American Water Works Association has grown to number more than 57,000 individuals, utilities and other organizations. AWWA is an international, nonprofit, scientific and educational Association dedicated to improving drinking water for people everywhere. The Florida Section of AWWA is the premier water association in Florida. Its 2,771 members include 130 utility members that collectively supply potable water to more than 80 percent of the State’s population.
