The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities is the winner of Chautauqua County’s 25th annual water tasting contest held recently at the Chautauqua Mall.

The BPU draws its water from groundwater wells and serves 46,700 people in Jamestown and surrounding communities. The town of Cherry Creek and the village of Mayville tied for second place. Other participants included Frewsburg, Sinclairville, Ripley and Westfield.

The format for the contest was a blind taste test where each community’s water was assigned a number, then the public was invited to try each one and vote for their favorite. Ronny Raindrop, the contest’s mascot, was present passing out balloons to children and mingling with the volunteer judges. The event is co-sponsored by the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services, the county Water Works Association and the county Water Quality Task Force.

“Judging was very close, making it tough for judges to decide which water was the best because they are all very good,” said Bill Boria, Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services senior water resource specialist. “This really supports the fact that our water operators work very hard to deliver the highest quality water possible to their customers. But water is all too often taken for granted until it becomes polluted or is not there when we turn on our taps. We all have a responsibility to conserve and protect our water by being careful what we do around our homes and businesses.”

Jamestown will now go on to the regional competition and compete against other county winners from Western New York.

For more information about drinking water, people should ask their local water provider for their most recent Annual Water Quality Report, which includes information about where water comes from, what it is tested for and the results of those tests. The public can also contact the County Department of Health and Human services at 753-4481 or visit www.healthyCHQ.com.