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You are Here: Home Page > 1999 Press Releases > Water Taste Test Slated for Capital District  

Water Taste Test Slated for Capital District

Albany, August 17 – Six municipalities will square off in the 1999 regional taste test to determine the best drinking water in the Capital District on Wednesday, August 18, at the International Food Festival on the Plaza at the Corning Tower Building on Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York, from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM. The top two finishers in this and four other regional contests scheduled statewide, will compete for statewide honors in September 1, 1999, at the New York State Fair.

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 Capital District Taste Off, the general public will participate in a blind taste test featuring liquid refreshment from the public water supplies of the Village of Altamont (Albany County), Clifton Park Water Authority (Saratoga County), Schodack Water District #3 (Rensselaer County), Quaker Hills Water District (Dutchess County), Village of Canajoharie (Montgomery County) and Town of Rotterdam (Schenectady County). Each of the six competitors has won a county competition to advance to this stage.

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 during the next decade to protect and improve drinking water for millions of New Yorkers.

8/17/99–91 OPA