For Immediate Release
Date: July 29, 2014

City of Savannah drinking water was declared the best-tasting in Georgia during a recent statewide taste test. The “Best of the Best Taste” award was given to Savannah by the Georgia Section of the American Water Works Association during last week’s Georgia Association of Water Professionals Annual Conference.

Savannah competed against cities from across Georgia to win the award. A panel of water utility professionals conducted a blind taste test on samples of water submitted by municipal water utilities, and ranked Savannah's tap water treated at its I & D plant at the top.

“The key to our success is really the pride our employees have in the work they do and how seriously they take their responsibilities, for every step of supplying water to our customers. They all understand the importance of water to our community and they value their contribution to it,” said John Sawyer, Public Works & Water Resources Bureau Chief.

Savannah’s tap water is not only the best-tasting in Georgia; it’s the most affordable, too. A 2013 national survey by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) determined Savannah’s water rates were the lowest of any water system surveyed in Georgia, 52% below the average for all water systems in the Southeast, and 54% below the average rate for all water systems surveyed in the United States.

AWWA is the nation’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational association dedicated to managing and treating water. The survey, conducted in partnership with Raftelis Financial Consultants, is the most comprehensive survey of water and sewer rates in the United States.

Savannah’s I & D Plant has been in operation since 1947, and is a designated American Water Works Historic Landmark. The plant processes surface water in order to supply nearly 30 million gallons of drinking water daily.