Tiny Greenwood, B.C., wins award for world’s best tap water

By ELAINE O'CONNOR, The ProvinceFebruary 28, 2012

Water Rates- Greenwood

Move over, Evian. A tiny town in B.C. has just claimed the title of best tap water in the world. Greenwood, a town of about 700 in the Kootenay Boundary region, took top honours at a water competition in West Virginia last weekend. Judges at the 22nd annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting chose Greenwood’s water as the “best municipal tap water,” rated according to taste, feel, aroma, appearance and aftertaste. The secret, according to Mayor Nipper Kettle, is that the town doesn’t treat the water — it’s simply pumped from an aquifer about 35 metres below the town. Most cities need to chlorinate their water, but since the town has no groundwater, it has so far not had to treat it. The mayor hoped the award would bring an economic boost to Canada’s smallest city, a former copper-smelting town established in 1897 that dwindled to 200 people after the company faltered in 1918. The town later served as one of the internment camps for B.C.’s Japanese-Canadians during WWII, and was immortalized as one of the shooting locations in the 1999 Hollywood movie Snow Falling on Cedars.