Denver Water Wins 'People's Choice' Taste Test

“ACE25 is where water utilities come together to share what it means to be the best. And that's everything from sitting on a panel to presenting research to showing off our skills in the field, like attaching a tap to a water main,” said Denver Water CFO Angela Bricmont. 

“We have more than 100 Denver Water people here, and we came here to lead and to learn,” she said.

Denver Water, which collects, cleans and delivers drinking water to 1.5 million people across the metro area, also won the top prize for the best-tasting water in the nation in the “People’s Choice” competition. The competition pitted the local tap water against 22 other top-ranked utilities, all of which had to win regional competitions to make it to the national taste test. 

Taylor Wilson, a water treatment technician, celebrated the win with Denver Water colleagues. 

“This just reinforces our mission that we are striving to create one of the best products that can ever come out of Colorado: Our drinking water,” Wilson said with a huge smile. 

The conference, held June 8-11 at the Colorado Convention Center, involved representatives from the utility, academic, regulatory, service providers and researcher sectors.

“People from all throughout the water industry came here together to talk about the pressing issues facing the water profession and the solutions that we can take back to our communities,” said Greg Kail, the director of communications for the American Water Works Association, known as AWWA.

The American Water Works Association, which has its headquarters in Denver, represents more than 4,300 utilities that supply roughly 80% of North America’s drinking water and treat almost half of North America’s wastewater. Its 50,000 members come from the full spectrum of the water community: public water and wastewater systems, environmental advocates, scientists, academicians, and others who hold a genuine interest in water, our most vital resource.

It’s also a chance for experts to learn from the locals, as Denver Water hosted a delegation from the Tokyo Water Group, which provides drinking water to more than 14 million people in the Japanese capitol, and showed off its treatment plants to conference attendees.

Denver Water hosted a meeting with a delegation from the Tokyo Water Group, which provides water to the Japanese capitol, who were in Denver for the ACE25 water industry conference. Photo credit: Denver Water.

Denver Water’s ACE25 delegation took part in committee meetings, spoke on expert panels and participated in competitions that measured speed, skill and precision in assembling a fire hydrant, a water meter and “pipe tapping,” in which a copper pipe is attached to a water main. (Read more about the ACE25 competitions.)

Presentation topics included the utility’s groundbreaking Lead Reduction Program, its new state-of-the-art Northwater Treatment Plant — and how its approach to engaging the community came to include an internationally viral video (more than 136,000 views and counting) of its annual summer watering rules set to song in “I Water That Way,” a spoof on the 1999 pop hit “I Want It That Way.”

Denver Water’s Splashstreet Boys found big fans of their No. 1 hit “I Water That Way” at the ACE25 conference. Photo credit: Denver Water.

For Torrey Thomas, a Denver Water meter technician, the best part about the ACE25 was checking out the more than 500 companies that crowded the exhibit floor. 

“I like being able to see the new technology, the new piping, software and the different things that are being used for distribution systems. There’s a lot that’s changing from old to new in piping, technology and tools,” Thomas said. 

Damian Higham, who manages Denver Water’s recycled water program, said he enjoyed seeing colleagues from across the country in person. 

“This is one of the few chances we get to meet all our colleagues across the country,” Higham said. “We come together and share knowledge, find out what others are doing, share what worked and what didn’t work, and bring that back to Denver Water and our customers.” 

Keep scrolling to see some of the photos from the ACE25, and be sure to read the TAP story about Denver Water’s competitive teams on the national stage.

Downtown Denver’s iconic blue bear sculpture peers over the ACE25 sign welcoming more than 11,000 conference attendees to the Colorado Convention Center in early June. Photo credit: Denver Water.

Water samples from utilities around the country are lined up for sampling during the ACE25 water taste tests. Photo credit: Denver Water.

Denver Water representatives, including Chief Finance Officer Angela Bricmont (center in blue), joined panels and presentations at ACE25. Photo credit: Denver Water.

Eddy the mascot for the American Water Works Association, has his picture taken with Denver Water volunteer and engineering manager Cindy Marshall. Photo credit: Denver Water.

The sign at the ACE25 conference says it all: Tap Water Provided by Denver Water. Photo credit: Denver Water.

Chief Administrative Officer Brian Good joined the many Denver Water volunteers at the conference. They helped guide conference attendees to presentations and mopped the floors at the pipe tapping competition. Photo credit: Denver Water.

The People’s Choice taste test competition asked conference attendees to sample and rate water from utilities across the country. (Denver Water won the People’s Choice top award.) Photo credit: Denver Water.

Meeting and conferring with water industry colleagues from across the country is a main attraction for the ACE25 conference. Photo credit: Denver Water.

Denver Water representatives gathered on the competition floor to cheer on the pipe tapping, hydrant and meter assembly teams competing on the national stage. Photo credit: Denver Water.