Rural Alaska's best water 1. Whittier
2. Talkeetna
2. (tie) Valdez Source: Alaska Rural Water Assoc. Wasilla was there. So were Kodiak and Talkeetna -- and Whittier, Valdez and North Pole.
All the rural communities in Alaska that sought the title of best-tasting water in the state had sent samples for an annual taste test Wednesday night at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel.
Modest-looking jugs filled with glistening specimens were resting on a table, shielded from view by a curtain, waiting to be judged.
More than local bragging rights were on the line.
Two years ago Kipnuk, a village near the Bering Sea coast, won the Alaska Rural Water Association contest.
The village of 660 Western Alaskans didn't stop there. In a subsequent competition staged by the National Rural Water Association in Washington, D.C., Kipnuk -- which still filtrates its drinking supply from a tundra pond -- was judged to have the best-tasting water in all of rural America.
The village wasn't entered in this year's contest, but other communities were hoping the same good fortune might come to them.
Set to choose the state winner (and national contestant) this time were three Alaska judges and one Outsider, National Rural Water Association president Bobby Scott, who'd been invited to the event by its sponsor, the Alaska Rural Water Association. All took their places behind the dais.
"OK, bring out the first sample," called ARWA executive director Tom Stratton.
From behind the curtain, two assistants walked out carrying unlabeled goblets of water in each hand and placed them before the judges. Scott picked up his and peered at it in the light of chandeliers. So did his fellow judges: Jim Ridgeway, a water association official; Larry Joffe, a water consultant; and Richelle Kemper, a Sheraton employee.
Kemper brought her goblet up to her nose and gently sniffed. The other judges did too. Then they each in turn took a sip, holding the water on their palates a moment, pursing their lips in concentration.
Each took another sip. Then they set down their glasses and marked down their scores (on a scale of 1 to 10) and placed them in a basket.
The glasses were cleared from the table and the second round was brought in. And the whole process started again.
There were eight rounds in all, representing the best, or at least the most self-assured, of Alaska's 450 community water systems -- all entries were self-nominated.
The tasting was over in about 15 minutes. As the water association staff counted the ballots, the judges returned to their tables.
Kemper, who also serves as the Sheraton director of convention services, described her own impression of Alaska's finest rural water.
"One of the things that I was looking for was clarity," she said. "I don't know if you've lived in some places where there's a lot of residue in the water and that falls to the bottom of the glass. And none of them had any residue, which is fabulous."
None of the glasses of water had any odor, either, and that was good too, she said. But it was the taste that set them apart.
"There was one (glass) that was very distinct -- it was just crisp, clear water," Kemper said. "There was that one that was above the rest."
But did the other judges feel the same?
Stratton brought out their verdict.
"The second-place winner -- well, there was a tie," he said. "Talkeetna and Valdez."
And first place?
"The best tasting water this year goes to ... the City of Whittier."
"Yeah!" yelled someone in the small audience of rural water officials.
Whittier water plant operators Ben Leniz and Cam Bender hopped up front to receive the award.
"We'll take that water back with us to D.C.," Stratton told the men. "I'm sure you'll represent us well."
"Tell President Bush that we don't treat our water," Leniz said. "We don't put anything in it."
And they don't, ARWA source water protection specialist Carrie Godden said later in the evening.
Whittier's drinking water -- which flows out of Whittier Glacier -- reaches its citizens just as nature made it, Godden said. It's tested occasionally, but it's so pure, Whittier doesn't have to treat it.
Visiting cruise ships get their water from the glacier as well, she said, but they're required to treat it with chemicals. Only Whittier gets the real thing.
Daily News reporter George Bryson can be reached at gbryson@adn.com.
