State Fair test finds Niskayuna has best-tasting water

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

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Water is something that anyone can get from their kitchen tap anywhere in New York state.

But, according to a statewide taste test at the New York State Fair conducted Thursday, the best tasting water for 2012 belongs to none other than Niskayuna.

“It’s just a reflection on how well our workers do in the water and sewer department,” town Supervisor Joe Landry said Thursday of the win. “They take pride in producing quality drinking water for all of the residents in the town.”

Niskayuna took the victory at the 26th annual New York State Drinking Water Taste Test, held at the New York State Fair in Syracuse.

The contest is sponsored by the state Environmental Facilities Corporation, the state Department of Health and “Bridge Street,” WSYR-TV in Syracuse’s mid-day morning show.

Niskayuna won out over nine other representatives from across the state. The voting was done by individuals at the fair, with more than 400 ballots cast.

The contest serves to highlight the importance of providing safe and clean drinking water, those who sponsored it said.

Niskayuna’s water sample came from one of its seven wells, winning the groundwater division of the contest.

The town’s water comes from two aquifers and serves more than 21,500 people with an average demand of 3.7 million gallons per day. The town’s wells provide about half of the town’s drinking water. The other half comes from Schenectady.

Winning the surface water division was another Capital Region community, Guilderland.

Those two were then pitted against each other and Niskayuna won out.

Both Guilderland and Niskayuna water entries moved on from the regional competition held Aug. 2 at Alive at Five in downtown Albany. Niskayuna made it there after winning the county competition held June 28 at the Greenmarket in Schenectady.

Town water and sewer superintendent Rich Pollock couldn’t point to one thing that made Niskayuna’s water better. But he did point to his employees.

“The guys in the water plant take their job seriously and they take care to do all the right steps and try to keep things in good shape,” Pollock said.

With the win, too, comes some joking around, Pollock said. With the state win, workers were already looking past the theoretical national competition, all the way to the planetary one.