Water Taste Test Slated for Metropolitan New York Area
This popular, nonscientific competition, is in its 13th year and stresses the importance of clean, safe, healthy, drinking water. It is sponsored by the State Departments of Health and Environmental Conservation.
At the Metropolitan New York Taste Off, water experts will participate in a blind taste test featuring liquid refreshment from the public water supplies of New York City, Yonkers (Westchester County), Bethpage Water District (Nassau County), Suffolk County Water Authority (Suffolk County), Village of Montgomery (Orange County), and City of Kingston (Ulster County). Each of the six competitors has won a county competition to advance to this stage. The winners will be announced on–site at the conclusion of the contest.
The top two contestants from each of the five regional events being held across the State will compete at the State Fair in Syracuse on September 1 to determine who has the "Best Tasting Water in New York State." The champion will be announced at a special presentation at the Fair and will receive a plaque and the tribute of two official highway signs proclaiming the honor.
More than 150 community water systems were represented this year in competitions that began in May at local county contests during National Drinking Water Week. Safe, clean, high quality water is a priority for New York State. Governor Pataki has allocated more than $355 million in low–interest loans and grants to public water suppliers in New York as part of the State's unprecedented Drinking Water Revolving Fund. The Fund, supported by the Governor's 1996 Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act, will provide more than $1.87 billion over the next decade to protect and improve drinking water for millions of New Yorkers.
8/11/99–88 OPA