News from Mission Springs Water District

Desert Hot Springs, CA: Battling other continents, countries and California municipal agencies, Mission Springs Water District (MSWD) was awarded top honor at the 30th Annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting with “Best Tasting Municipal Water in the World” for 2020.

Mission Springs Water District entered the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting along with more than 100 waters from across the country and around the globe held February 20-23, 2020.

“This is truly wonderful. Mission Springs Water District is honored to have been selected best tasting water in the world for the third time,” MSWD Board President Nancy Wright explains. “Year after year, all submissions prove worthy. We are deeply proud that Mission Springs Water District can represent the whole Coachella Valley on the world stage.”

The 30th anniversary celebration took place on Saturday, February 22, 2020. It is the largest and longest running water tasting in the world, dubbed by BuzzFeed and The Week “the world’s most prestigious water tasting.”

“The consistency in winners from year to year with different panels of judges validates the choices,” remarked perennial watermaster, Arthur von Wiesenberger. “It also speaks to the impressively high caliber of the waters entered.” This is the ninth medal Mission Springs Water District has received since it began participating in the Berkeley Springs Tasting Competition in 1997.

Since its inception, more than 700 distinct waters from all over the United States and from as far away as Greece, New Zealand and Korea have entered the Berkeley Springs Tasting Competition. This year, a total of four continents submitted waters totaling more than 100 submissions.

The twelve judges included representatives from various regional and national media including television, newspapers and online magazines. They were instructed to look, sniff and taste each water under guidelines similar to those in a wine tasting. The waters were rated for each attribute including appearance (it should be clear – or slightly opaque for glacial waters), aroma (there should be none), taste (it should taste clean), mouth feel (it should feel light), aftertaste (it should leave you thirsty for more). Waters were tasted in four separate flights over two days.

Mission Springs Water District looks forward to the 31st annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting, scheduled for Saturday, February 27, 2021.

Best Municipal Water 2020 Best in the World – Mission Springs Water District, Desert Hot Springs, CA
2nd – Mackay, Queensland, Australia 3rd – Ville de Senneterre, QC, Canada
4th – Santa Ana, CA
5th – Southwest Water Authority, ND