From the Toronto Star this morning, water from Oklahoma City and a county in Kansas came one-two in a blind North American taste test. Toronto came third.

So what does a winning water taste like? In a word, nothing. Great tap water should be “clear, crystal and have a nice taste without having any flavours associated with it,” judge and emcee Prof. Mel Suffet of the UCLA’s School of Public Health said yesterday. The liquid contestants were couriered or hand-delivered to Toronto for the American Water Works Association annual conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Ten waters had already won U.S. regional competitions. As host city, Toronto got the 11th spot. Five judges (including me) privately tasted the “blind” samples – knowing them only as numbers 1 through 11 – and at room temperature. It was a cinch to eliminate six for smelling like chlorine or tasting salty, earthy or musty.