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Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting Awards

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- FEBRUARY 23, 2008
Travel Berkeley Springs - Berkeley Springs, WV
Press contact only: Jill Klein Rone -- 304-258-3302

LOS ANGELES NABS THE GOLD AT ACADEMY AWARDS OF WATER IN BERKELEY SPRINGS
BERKELEY SPRINGS, WV ----- While stars gather in Los Angeles for the Academy Awards, their drinking water was judged best in the world in tiny Berkeley Springs, West Virginia which hosted the 18th annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting, known as the Academy Awards of water. Title of the Best Municipal Water in 2008 is shared by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California which services much of Los Angeles, and Clearbrook Waterworks, British Columbia. Metropolitan Water District was a gold medal winner in 1998 and has placed in the top five, four other years since. Clearbrook was the silver medal winner in 2007.

For the first time in the history of the event, there were ties for both the gold and silver -- and both ties involved a Southern California and a British Columbia water. Three of the four are previous gold medal winners at the event. "Good water rises to the top," said Jill Klein Rone, event producer. "Our tasting process is vindicated when the same waters are rated by a completely different panel of judges each year and still win."

Second place is shared by Desert Hot Springs, California and the Village of Montrose, British Columbia. Desert Hot Springs won the gold in 2004 and 1999 and placed second in 2001. This is the first winning entry for Montrose.

Rutland, Vermont; Independence, Missouri and Montpelier, Ohio placed third, fourth and fifth in the world respectively. Montpelier was 2007's gold medal winner. There were 29 municipal waters from 13 states, Canada and New Zealand. "We had five former gold medalists competing this year," said Klein Rone.

More than 200 people watched at The Country Inn in Berkeley Springs on February 23 as a ten media judges spent hours tasting more than 120 waters from 19 states and nine foreign countries from New Zealand and Romania to Macedonia and the Philippines. Arthur von Wiesenberger, author and founder of BottledWaterWeb.com once again served as the event's watermaster. "This is the longest running and largest water tasting in the world," he said. "The grandaddy of them all."

A sentimental and local favorite -- and a first time entrant -- won the best bottled water. Tumai Water of Martinsburg, WV uses their business to raise funds to provide safe water in Africa. Second place was won by Eldorado Natural Spring Water, Eldorado Springs, CO; third by Prairie Crystal Canadian Pure Spring Water, Marchand, Manitoba, Canada; fourth by 83ppm Natural Spring Water, from Village Blanchard, New Brunswick, Canada. Completing the top five was Manassas VA, Almost Heaven bottling famous hometown Berkeley Springs, West Virginia water.

Sparkling water winners spanned three continents. Salvus Mineralwasser Medium of Emsdetten, Deutschland won first place followed by Zema Woda, Tesanj, Bosnia. Third place was Waiwera Artesian Water, Waiwera Infinity Thermal Spa Resort, Auckland, New Zealand and fourth was another Bosnian water -- Tesanjski Dijamant from Tesanj, Bosnia tied with one of the only two remaining old time seltzer bottle waters --Pittsburgh Seltzer Works of Pittsburgh, PA. A former owner of Seltzer Works, travel author Sam Edelman was one of the judges. "The judges have no idea what waters they are tasting," said Klein Rone, "so we did not make Sam give up his seat." Fifth place in sparkling was Canadian Gold, Marchand, Manitoba, Canada.

Purified water which is processed and bottled municipal tap water became a category in 2001. "We added them because this is a growing field," said von Wiesenberger. The 2008 winner was Great Blue, Federalsburg, MD, followed by Clear Creek Water Company of Farmington, NM. Third place was a tie between two central Canadian waters: Blue Moon Water, Brandon, Manitoba and Saskatchewan Clear, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Element H2O, Chantilly, VA won fourth and The Original Cherokee Great Smoky Mountain Drinking Water, Cherokee, NC was fifth.

The crowd was interested in the peoples' choice packaging competition where it was their votes that chose which of the dozen entrants was the most alluring. In 2008, the clean line of Mist Premium Spring Water of Atlanta, GA captured the popular vote with last year's Aquadeco of New York coming in second. Third place was won by the winning bottled water -- Tumai of Martinsburg, WV; fourth was the square bottle of Daytona Beach FL and fifth was the classic Mountain Valley Vintage Glass of Hot Springs, AR.

The ten media judges selected by Klein Rone from publications including Atlanta Magazine, Delta and US Air inflight magazines, Southern Fried Magazine and Smart Set were instructed by von Wiesenberger to look, sniff and taste each water under guidelines like those in a wine tasting. The waters were rated for each attribute including appearance (it should be clear - or slightly opaque for glacial waters), aroma (there should be none), taste (it should taste clean), mouth feel (it should feel light), aftertaste (it should leave you thirsty for more). Waters were tasted in four separate flights over two days. "The presence of Nayl D'Souza who came from Bath, England to judge signals the importance of this event to the global water world," said von Wiesenberger. "D'Souza's 'Water Innovation Magazine' is a respected international voice in the industry. It shows that Europe is paying attention to this event." There were 16 European waters entered.

The water tasting is the centerpiece of the Winter Festival of Waters, a three-month series of special activities produced by Travel Berkeley Springs to heighten winter tourism business in Morgan County.

The 19th annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting is scheduled for Saturday, February 21, 2009.

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FINAL RESULTS
2008 Award Winners

Municipal Water  
Gold: TIE... Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Clearbrook Waterworks District, British Columbia, Canada
Silver: TIE... Desert Hot Springs, CA
Village of Montrose, British Columbia, Canada
Bronze: Rutland, Vermont
4th -- Independence, Missouri
5th -- Montpelier, Ohio

Non-Carbonated Bottled Water
Gold: Tumai Water, Martinsburg, WV
Silver: Eldorado Natural Spring Water, Eldorado Springs, CO
Bronze: Prairie Crystal Canadian Pure Spring Water, Marchand, Manitoba, Canada
4th -- 83 ppm Natural Spring Water, Village Blanchard, New Brunswick, Canada
5th -- Almost Heaven, Berkeley Springs, WV

Purified Drinking Water
Gold: Great Blue, Federalsburg, MD
Silver: Clear Creek Water Company, Farmington, NM
Bronze: Tie: Blue Moon Water, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
Saskatchewan Clear, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
4th -- Element H2O, Chantilly, VA
5th --The Original Cherokee Great Smoky Mountain Drinking Water, Cherokee, NC

Carbonated Bottled Water
Gold: Salvus Mineralwasser Medium, Emsdetten, Deutschland
Silver: Zema Voda, Tesanj, Bosnia
Bronze: Waiwera Artesian Water, Waiwera Infinity Thermal Spa Resort, Auckland, New Zealand
4th --Tie: Tesanjski Dijamant, Tesanj, Bosnia
Seltzer Water, Pittsburgh, PA
5th- - Canadian Gold, Marchand, Manitoba, Canada

The People's Choice for Package Design
Gold: Mist Premium Spring Water of Vanleer, TN based in Atlanta, GA
Silver: Aquadeco, Gold Mountain, Ontario, Canada, based in New York
Bronze: Tumai Water, Martinsburg, WV
4th -- Daytona Beach, FL
5th -- Mountain Valley Vintage Glass, Hot Springs, AR