Denver voted best tap water in the U.S. and Canada but conference judges award Virginia community

CBS News

11-06-2025

Denver voted best tap water in U.S. but Virginia county wins over judges
Denver voted best tap water in U.S. but Virginia county wins over judges
Denver voted best tap water in U.S. but Virginia county wins over judges
Attendees of a tap water conference voted Denver has the best tap water in the U.S. and Canada, but judges from the organization disagreed.
The American Water Works Association just awarded Henrico, Virginia, the accolade at the annual AWWA Annual Conference and Exposition in Denver.
The region near Richmond faced off against cities and communities across the country, including Denver, but ultimately beat Denver, along with other communities' tap water.
Three judges tasted samples from 26 water utilities across the U.S. and Canada.
Denver scored a first-place spot in the "People's Choice" category -- voted on by all conference attendees -- but failed to place in the top three among the judges in the "Best of the Best" category.
"People's Choice":
Denver Appleton, Minnesota Bloomington, Minnesota
Taylor Wilson, left, of Denver Water, accepts the "People's Choice" award on behalf of the city for best tap water in the U.S. and Canada at the American Water Works Association's 2025 conference in Denver on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
CBS
While perhaps a product of the attendees having had a lot of Denver's water throughout the four-day conference, Denver and Colorado rarely rank particularly high in lists of best-tasting or cleanest tap water. U.S. News and World Report recently ranked Colorado as 33rd for drinking water quality among U.S. states and Colorado failed to rank in the top 10 for large metro areas in the U.S. in a recent J.D. Power U.S. Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study.
Denver did, however, rank 9th in its 2025 study in the "West-Large" regional category and in its "West-Midsize" regional category, Colorado Springs Utilities ranked 6th and Aurora Water ranked 10th.
American Water Works Association judges taste tap water from utilities around the U.S. and Canada at the organization's 2025 conference in Denver on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
CBS
The "Best of the Best" winners at the AWWA conference were:
Henrico, Virginia Taylorsville Bennion Improvement District, Utah Ames, Iowa
The conference wraps up on Wednesday and includes a number of competitions, including a "meter challenge," pipe tapping competition, and more. The finals for each of those competitions are on Wednesday.