The Water Authority of Dickson County was recently named the winner of the Region 9 Best Tasting Water Competition sponsored by the Tennessee Association of Utility Districts.

The event took place at the Montgomery County Shooting Complex on March 21.

The drinking water samples were judged on their clarity, bouquet, and taste.

In addition to the Water Authority of Dickson County, the competing utilities in the event included Pleasant View Utility District, Second South Cheatham Utility District, and Tennessee Ridge Water & Sewer. TAUD Region 9 consists of Cheatham, Dickson, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Montgomery and Stewart counties.

Serving as judges for the event were Warner Taylor, former Director of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology in Dickson; and Steve Christenson and Toni Huff, Montgomery County Shooting Complex.

WADC has won the TN Association of Utility District’s Region 9 Best Tasting Water three times, 2010, 2011 and 2019. In 2010 WADC went on to win the state’s best tasting water and represented Tennessee in the national contest in Washington D.C.

This year, WADC will compete for the State of TN’s best tasting water in August at TAUD’s annual conference.

"WADC takes pride in providing safe, clean water to all of our customers. Any validation, such as this award, is an appreciated acknowledgement of our hard-working staff and their dedication," said WADC Executive Director Michael Adams.

People often take clean, readily-available water for granted," Adams added. "According to the World Health Organization, over 4,000 children in other parts of the world die daily because of the lack of clean drinking water and over 3.4 million people die annually.Here in Dickson County we are much more fortunate than most of the world and truly blessed to live where we do and enjoy the resources we have."

TAUD will conduct the Best Tasting Water in Tennessee Contest in each of its 11 regions throughout the upcoming months. Each regional winner will compete at TAUD’s 2019 Business Utility Conference at the Gatlinburg Convention Center on Aug. 8.

The statewide winner represents TAUD at the Great American Taste Test held in conjunction with the National Rural Water Association Rally in Washington D.C. in February 2020.

The Tennessee Association of Utility Districts is the state's primary source for utility training, technical assistance, and advocacy for more than 400 water, wastewater, and natural gas utility members.