Following the Great American Water Taste Test's final judging rounds April 24, Callaway 2 Water District can boast to serve the best tasting water in the state.
The district earned the distinction when it beat out 19 other samples from rural water districts and municipalities in a taste test that culminated with five finalists judged at the Missouri Rural Water Association (MRWA's) annual open house and fish fry.
The finals, which included Freeburg, Howell County Public Water Supply District 1, Puxico and Wardsville, were judged on three criteria, according to Water Taste Test Coordinator Tom Hyatt: water clarity, smell, and "probably most importantly, the taste of the water - that it's pleasing to the palate and has nothing that would cause a person to object to the taste of it."
Ashland Mayor Michael Jackson, Terry Timmons of the state Department of Natural Resources' Public Drinking Water Branch and Nathan Chitwood of the USDA Rural Development were judges of this year's event. Timmons categorized the taste as "good ol' Missouri groundwater with a mineralized taste."