San Patricio Municipal Water District is the winner of the 2010 “Best Tasting Water In Texas” title in a contest conducted by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) – Texas Section.

The Water District will represent Texas in a national best tasting water competition at the AWWA’s annual convention in June.  The contest is conducted for “fun and bragging rights,” according to the AWWA which encourages members to use the opportunity to showcase their ingenuity, know-how and skill.

The Texas AWWA includes most of the state’s municipal water utilities.  Judges selected winners in a blind taste test April 15 during the group’s annual conference in Corpus Christi. 

The winning water entered came from the Water District’s sophisticated microfiltration plant (Plant C) and a small plant used to bottle drinking water as part of the district’s ongoing water conservation education program.

While you can’t buy a bottle of Texas’ best tasting water, the Water District does provide small quantities of bottled water for conservation education programs and for special community events in the district’s service area. Bottles are labeled with a reminder to “Water Wisely.” Water bottling is done by trained staff members who produce a small number of bottles at a time as needed.

Jim Naismith, District general manager and district engineer, said the bottled water program is both a reminder to conserve and a statement about the quality of water leaving the District’s treatment facility between Gregory and Ingleside.

“Every day our employees produce millions of gallons of high quality water for the public and for industry.  We are proud of our staff and of our exceptional quality record,” he said.

Jake Krumnow, district operations and maintenance manager, was responsible for developing the bottling plant and for fine tuning it to produce good tasting water. 

John Herrera, operations superintendent, is chief operator responsible for producing million of gallons of water daily from District treatment plants.