April 2005 - Rice Lake (Wisconsin) Wins Bronze in Competition for "Best Municipal Drinking Water" in the World! Rice Lake, Wisconsin brought home a bronze medal for "The "Best-Tasting Municipal Drinking Water" -- in world competitions held at the 15th annual International Water Tasting in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, last month. To give an idea of the competition, Berkeley Springs boasts the largest and longest running water tasting competition in the world – and this year saw the largest number of international waters in the 15 year history of the event, with municipal and bottled waters entered in the tastings, from Bosnia, New Zealand, Canada, the Caribbean, Romania, Switzerland, Korea, Australia, Finland, Suriname, Russia, Croatia, Slovenia, Nicaragua, Sweden, and twenty-one U.S. states. For the category in which Rice Lake won the bronze, "Best in the world Municipal Water," this year's winner was from Gibsons, BC, Canada; Best in US Gold Medal Winner was Daytona Beach, Florida; Silver Medal winner was Putaruru, New Zealand; and the Bronze winners were Rice Lake, Wisconsin, and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Other water-tasting competitions at the Festival included: Best Bottled Water in the World (this year's winner: LeSage Natural Wells, Lesage, West Virginia); Best Municipal Water (this year's winner: Gibsons, BC, Canada); Best Purified Drinking Water (this year's winner: Imibe, Broadview, Saskatchewan, Canada); and Best Carbonated Bottled Water (this year's winner: Roua Muntilor, Covasna, Romania). Rice Lake has done very well in just a few water-tasting outings: In 2003, Rice Lake was chosen as having the best municipal drinking water in Wisconsin, at the annual Water Quality Competition in Madison. Here's what Rice Lake had to say at that time:

"Talk about a liquid asset? We're pleased as punch, er..., steeped in pride, over this award," said Al Arnold, former Rice Lake Mayor, and coordinator of the Rice Lake Tourism and Retail Development Commission. "We know what a precious commodity water is in the world, and what this means for Rice Lake's economic and tourism development stature." "We're lucky to have such quality drinking water in Wisconsin," said Wally Thom, Water and Wastewater Manager of the Rice Lake Utilities. "We work hard to maintain good quality water -- ours comes from deep groundwater wells -- and it was a team effort," he noted.

According to a recent article in the Rice Lake Chronotype, Water Department supervisor Wally Thom said Rice Lake’s city water comes from four wells in various parts of the city, ranging from 300-450 feet deep. He said the city pumps about 589 million gallons of water per year. A modern city of 8,000, founded in 1864 on the site of a Native American village and wild rice bed, located just 60 miles north of Eau Claire, Rice Lake has coupled her natural assets with wise community development to become a regional hub providing outstanding theater, music, arts, education, shopping, year-round recreation, additions to its airport -- and now, drinking water, too! More than 300 people attended the Berkeley Springs event. According to a Festival news release, there are five different characteristics used to evaluate water. They are appearance, odor (or lack of it), flavor, mouth feel and aftertaste. "Descriptions of prize winning waters include: sturdy, clean without seeming scrubbed, reticent with character and serious but well balanced. The very best waters are said to have breeding and finesse," stated the release. The release also notes that with mouth feel "You want a clean edge, a fresh and light texture; nothing flabby, cloying, musty or squeaky."

2003 Rice Lake Wisconsin -- Rice Lake is awash in the news it was just chosen as having "The Best Drinking Water in Wisconsin," in a competition conducted by the Wisconsin Water Association (WWA). At the WWA annual meeting in Madison, the Rice Lake water scored 100 out of a possible 100 points, where water samples are judged on flavor (nine categories including aromatic, chemical, chlorine, grassy, iron, musty, phenolic, sulfide, and swampy); turbidity (having sediment or foreign particles stirred up or suspended); and color. The test panel included food and beverage taste-testing experts, Dr. Robert Lindsay and Dr. Robert Bradley of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Food Science Department; and Jack Albrechtson, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Water Association. The year 2003 marked the 18th contest held in conjunction with the WWA Annual Meeting and Water Utility Expo, but is the first time that Rice Lake has entered the competition. The Wisconsin Water Association (WWA) is a section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA). Albrechtson says in 2001 the WWA began a new strategic planning process, with the goal to ensure a safe, reliable, water supply by providing education, information, and networking opportunities for the Wisconsin water supply community.