Lower Kuskokwim School District / Kipnuk of Bethel, Alaska Wins America's
Best Tasting Water!   

(Washington, D.C.) – If you’re looking for the best tasting water in the nation, move to Alaska.  The Lower Kuskokwim School District / Kipnuk of Bethel, Alaska took top honors today at the 6th Annual Great American Water Taste Test.  The taste test is held each year on Capitol Hill in conjunction with the National Rural Water Association’s Annual Rally in Washington, D.C. 

NRWA represents over 24,500 rural and small utilities so you can see it is a tremendous accomplishment for the The Lower Kuskokwim School District / Kipnuk to win this national competition. They competed against the top water systems from 48 state rural water associations in order to secure this award. 

Bill Ferguson, Superintendent, heads the school district. Bob Miller, Supervisory Water Operator, supervises its water system.  In the field, are Kipnuk operators Gabe Gunlik and Adolph Ayaprun who use a nanotubular membrane filtration system to process the source water derived from  rain catchment and tundra pond reserves.  The Lower Kuskokwim School District / Kipnuk, Bethel, Alaska provides water to 210 kids in grades K-12. 

The judges for the event were, Curtis Anderson, Rural Utilities Service Administrator, Michelle Nellenbach, Staff Member of Environment and Public Works for Senator Inhofe and Gregory Bauer, Executive Chef for the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill.  Each judge evaluated glasses of water from the five finalists measuring them on clarity, bouquet and taste. 

The five finalist were:  Western Greene County Regional Water District, Walcott, Arkansas; Cass Rural Water District, Kindred, North Dakota; Yampa, Colorado; Lower Kuskokwim School District / Kipnuk, Bethel, Alaska; and the Town of Afton, Wyoming. 

State Rural Water Associations conduct preliminary competitions selecting the best water from small and rural systems to represent their state at the national finals. 

Every April, the National Rural Water Association sponsors the Rural Water Rally and Great American Taste Test on Capitol Hill to give utility and state officials an opportunity to visit one-on-one with their Congressional representatives and discuss key water and wastewater issues.

 
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(Photo (L to R) :  Bill Harvey, National Rural Water Association Director for Alaska accepts the Great American Water Taste Test 1^st place trophy from NRWA President, Bobby Scott.