Judges: Sarasota County Has Best Drinking Water in the Region

One way to cleanse the palate at a wine tasting is to eat crackers and drink unflavored water. So how do judges cleanse the palate when tasting water, rather than wine? They munch on unsalted crackers.

That's how they did it Wednesday at the Region 10 Water Works Association when judges sampled water from eight utilities from across Southwest Florida. They rated the samples for taste, clarity, color and odor. It was a blind competition -- judges sampled unlabeled, unchilled water -- and they said there really is a difference. ...

When all the judging was done, and the tabulation completed, the Sarasota County water was judged the best. All the other utilities ranked second, including Manatee County, Englewood, the city of Sarasota, Peace River, city of Venice, Charlotte County and Punta Gorda.

James Conley of Sarasota County chalked up his utility’s win to technology, a $14 million electro-hydrolysis water treatment system.