July 25, 2018
Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) is aiming to take home a gong for having the tastiest water in Queensland when it competes in the state finals of the Ixom Best of the Best Queensland Water Taste Test.
Earlier this month TRC was named as the 2018 South West Queensland winner.
It will now compete in the Queensland finals on September 5 at the Gold Coast.
To determine which water to enter in the competition, the Mayor and Councillors took part in a taste-off on Wednesday using water samples drawn from across the Toowoomba Region.
TRC’s Water and Waste Committee Chair Cr Nancy Sommerfield said this was the first time Council had taken this approach for choosing the water to be entered in the finals.
“Normally we send a sample from the Mt Kynoch Water Treatment Plant, but this year we thought we’d do things a little differently,” she said.
“We had 13 samples from the region and gave each councillor a chance to perform a blind test to decide which sample to send.
“Each councillor used a scientifically proven water wheel to judge the entries by colour, odour and taste with the sample from Haden voted the tastiest.”
TRC is a previous winner of the Queensland title, having won it in 2016.
It was also named the Australian winner in 2017.
Water and Waste portfolio leader Cr Bill Cahill said the council was proud of these achievements and would continue to ensure the delivery standard remained high.
“Winning awards such as these reinforces the methods we have in place, and also acknowledges the work staff do,” he said.
“Our staff work tirelessly to ensure the water that’s pumped throughout our region is of the highest quality, and continually look for new and innovative ways of servicing the region.
“It’s easy to take something as essential as water for granted, but it’s important to remember it’s the pillar for the entire region’s economy.”
As a result of winning the national title last year, Toowoomba will host the 2018 National Taste Test finals on October 18.
