Glencoe honored for best water in Illinois

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The best water in Illinois? Not Perrier or Pellegrino. Not even Aquafina or Dasani.

It’s a nice little varietal we’ll call “Glencoe Tap.”

The village won the 17th annual Water Taste Contest of the Illinois Section American Water Works Annual Conference.

The engineering consultancy AB&H-A Donahue Group, sponsors the contest. Four judges met in Springfield March 22 to judge water for clarity, odor and taste. One of the judges was state Sen. Larry Bomke, who had taste-tested chili and hot wings, but never water before.

“Some were clearer than others, some you might say were a little sweet,” Bomke said.

Glencoe now plans to enter the national contest, which will be judged in June. In its seventh year, Illinois has won twice — Illinois American Water’s Champaign plant operators won in 2005 and 2006.