Last month the Champaign district of Illinois American Water was named the best tasting water in the country. The taste testing, which took place in San Antonio, Texas, was a blind test of a panel of judges based on several flavor characteristics.

The title marks the second consecutive year that the district has won the “Best of the Best” award.

Walter Voegel, productions operations superintendent for Illinois American Water said in a press release that he and the other employees were very proud of the win.

“Our operators work very hard to ensure the best quality water is delivered to our customers,” Voegel said. “This win is truly a testament to them and all of the employees of Illinois American Water.”

The win was especially pleasing to the employees who work on the production side of the company said Brent O’Neill, project manager for Illinois American Water.

O’Neill said he attributes the high quality taste of the area’s water to supply to several factors.

“We get our water from the Mahomet aquifer, which is one of the highest quality groundwater supplies,” O’Neill said. “We also soften the water which takes out some of the iron, which is one of the elements that people tend to dislike the taste of in their water.”

O’Neill also said that, rather than aiming to be named the best tasting water, he feels that the title is a byproduct of what the employees do on a daily basis.

Brenda Murphy, senior in LAS, has lived in the area for a total of 14 years. She said she is very pleased with the quality of water she receives here compared to where she use to live.

“I lived in a small town and our drinking water tasted like rotten eggs,” Murphy said. “There was no way we could drink it straight from the tap, so we had to get a filter.”

Murphy said she thinks it is sad that there are places where people will not drink their own water, and she is glad she does not have to deal with those conditions any longer.

“I’ve really come to appreciate our water since I moved back,” Murphy said. “As far as water goes, it actually tastes really good.”