BANGOR, Maine (WABI) – The Maine Rural Water Association’s annual conference returned to the Cross Insurance Center on Wednesday.

That meant it was time to see which of the dozens of community water systems present had the best water.

A trio of judges sampled water with and without disinfectant giving a score of up to five.

In the end it was Maine Mobile Homes Friendly Village from Gorham who took home the prize with a combined score of 11.5.

″I think it was because it was crisp clear. There was no after taste, there was no odor. It wasn’t disinfected. So it went down smoothly,” said Nick Rico, a judge and the President of the Maine Rural Water Association.

“Well, we have a very good water source. We have an aquifer. Our wells are 30 feet deep. It’s good water, good clean water,” said John Richard Director of Communities at Maine Mobile Homes.

Those who work in this industry aren’t doing so for a trophy, so bragging rights don’t hurt.

“It feels pretty good I always said I was always a bridesmaid, never a bride, so it’s good to be number one this year and it feels really good and I’m happy,” said Richard.“You know, we want to provide good, safe drinking water. And that’s our, that’s one of our goals. So, confidence in the utilities and the distributors and the workers and they’re all behind this.”

One of the judges noted why they believe it’s important to host events like this.

“Water literally is the lifeblood of the community. No one can survive without water every day. You know you can go weeks without eating, but you can’t go weeks without drinking. You know, we and the water industry are the original environmentalists. We’ve been doing this, protecting human health in the environment for over 150 years,” Rico said.

Maine Mobile Homes Friendly Village in Gorham will now head to Washington DC to represent maine at the national taste competition in February.

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