Birmingham, Louisville Take Tapping Contest Honors

By Kevin Westerling

Excitement abounded and the crowd went wild as Birmingham (AL) Water Works Board unseated two-time defending champion Honolulu (HI) Board of Water Supply in AWWA's 15th Annual Pipe Tapping Contest. Today's showdown culminated two days of frenzied pipe-tapping as water utilities from all over North America competed for the right to be called the best. Teams were judged on speed as well as accuracy, with the finished pipe subject to inspection by a team of judges. When all was said and done, the folks at Birmingham Water Works walked away with the best time—an impressive 1:06.77—as well as a year's worth of bragging rights.

Las Vegas Valley Water District competes in the 15th Annual Pipe Tapping Contest.

On the women's side, Louisville (KY) Pure Water Tappers blew away the competition with a winning time of 2:05.95, more than 25 seconds faster than their closest competition. Women's participation in this event has been a growing trend in recent years, and Louisville's strong performance would seem to suggest that the trend will continue well into the future.

The following is a list of the top times in this year's contest:

Look for other news, articles and product announcements this week as we report live from AWWA's Annual Conference & Exposition.