There’s nothing more essential to life than water. Whether it be for drinking, cooking or cooling off on hot summer days, we simply can’t live without water.

So, we were happy to see our county’s water, produced by the Chilton Water Authority, was named the best tasting water in the state by the Alabama Rural Water Association.

CWA won the state’s 2010 Drinking Water Taste Test based on a sample submitted to a panel of judges. CWA Manager Doug Bice said the sample was taken from a well supplied by a limestone aquifer in northwest Chilton County, a location known to produce high quality H20.

“It’s just a high quality, very clear water,” Bice told The Clanton Advertiser. “The limestone adds calcium to the water and brings the pH up.”

CWA serves more than 8,700 active customers from eight wells and 10 storage tanks that distribute water throughout 900 miles of main line pipe. Water is drawn from the Coker Aquifer, the Jemison Chert (both sandstone-like formations) and two limestone formations in northwest Chilton County. The system is capable of pumping about 7.5 million gallons per day.

A CWA representative will now receive a round trip airline ticket to Washington, D.C. to compete in the National Drinking Water Taste Test in February 2011.

Winning the state competition casts Chilton County in a positive light—not to mention giving residents confidence the water they use every day is of the highest quality.

Now, let’s all pull for CWA to bring the national title back to Chilton County.