HAHNVILLE — After taking home a state-level award for quality tap water earlier this year, a tap water sample from the East Bank of St. Charles Parish has been named “best-tasting” in a regional contest held by the American Water Works Association in Tulsa, Okla.

Parish President V.J. St. Pierre Jr. made the announcement at a recent parish council meeting.

The contest was judged on the water’s clarity, taste, order and finish, which relates to aftertaste. The St. Charles sample, which came from waterworks plant No. 1 on the East Bank, beat out samples from Center Grove, Ark., Tulsa, Okla., Beaver Creek, Ark., and Shreveport, La. The sample won a similar contest, conducted by The Louisiana Conference on Water Supply, Sewerage and Industrial Wastes, back in March of 2008.

“We were honored to compete and hope to bring more awards back to St. Charles Parish,” Waterworks Director Robbie Brou said. “But win or lose, the employees of the Waterworks Department will continue to provide the citizens of St. Charles Parish with great-tasting water that is safe and meets all water quality regulations.”

The parish will now have the honor of competing in the “ACE Best of the Best Water Taste Test” at the AWWA Annual Conference in June 2009. AWWA is the largest organization of water supply professionals in the world, representing more than 59,000 members and 4,700 utilities supplying water to about 180 million people in North America. All entries in the Water Taste Contest must have incurred no state or federal drinking water violations during the previous calendar year.

“St. Charles Waterworks is eagerly awaiting the chance to compete against 43 other AWWA section winners from North America,” Brou said. “Our competition will include samples from the United States, Canada and Mexico.”

For more information on the St. Charles Parish Waterworks Department and to view an informative video segment on current projects, visit http://www.stcharlesgov.net/departments/waterwork.htm.