Bonners wins 'best water' honors

It is easy to take water for granted, but clean, fresh water is essential to our survival.

We need clean water to drink, cook and clean. We need it for sanitation, fire protection, irrigation, and we really like it to taste good.

The members of the Pacific Northwest section of the American Water Works Association, which includes Bonners Ferry, are the stewards and protectors of our water.

The organization includes Oregon, Washington and a large portion of Idaho.

The Inland Empire subsection held its best tasting water contest on March 13 at the Spokane Arena.

The competition included nine entries from water systems throughout the Inland Empire area.

The winner of this year’s competition was the friendliest little town in Idaho.

This is an honor, according to Bonners Ferry Water Department staff since the panel of judges consisted of drinking water regulators from Idaho DEQ & Washington Department of Health.

The next level of competition will be held once again in Spokane at the convention center in May for the PNWS technical conference.

In June, the winner will travel to the AWWA annual conference and exposition in Denver to compete on the national level.