In a popular contest at the Earth and Water Festival in Montgomery on Saturday, the Village of Goshen was awarded the title of best-tasting drinking water for the year 2015.
The contest judges the tap water from different municipalities around the county, and in the event that a town, village, or city has multiple water sources, the best one is chosen for the competition.
Goshen’s competitors were the City and Town of Newburgh, the Town of New Windsor, the Village of Monroe, the Village of Highland Falls, and the Village of Woodbury.
Last year the Town of New Windsor won first place.
The contest was not based on an empirical study of the water’s quality—it was the result of about 100 voters who attended the festival and stopped by the Health Department’s booth to vote.
The County contest has been held off and on for the last 15 years, estimates Steve Gagnon, a senior public health engineer at the Health Department and one of people who manned the booth.
He says it is about providing education on the value and quality of public tap water, mostly among kids, and for that reason the contest used to be held at schools in the county.
A similar popular voting contest will be held at the regional level, which includes several counties, on Aug. 11 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. After that, the winner will compete against other regions for the state title, a competition that has been going on for the last 20 years estimates Gagnon.
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