The Whorton Bend Water Authority was recently recognized by the Alabama Rural Water Association for having the best-tasting water among its members.
Mary Thomas, the business manager for the Whorton Bend Water Authority and former employee of the Gadsden Water Works and Sewer Board, visited the Gadsden City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 2, to inform the council of the award.
Gadsden supplies its treated water from the Coosa River to many smaller communities in and around Etowah County, including Whorton Bend.
According to Thomas, the Alabama Rural Water Association held a tasting contest among its members at the March conference held in Montgomery. The association’s contest allows members to bring a gallon of drinking water from their systems to enter into the statewide competition.
Thomas said Whorton Bend was competing against about 40 others. One of the guest judges for the contest was Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, former president of Alabama’s Public Service Commission and current director of Rural Development in Alabama.
“Twinkle Cavanaugh preferred Whorton Bend water,” Thomas said. “I believe this award is a testament to Gadsden’s efforts to provide clean and great-tasting water to all its neighbors.”
According to Thomas, Whorton Bend’s water is tested by the EPA and ADEM to ensure the authority meets all requirements for clean drinking water.
Thomas shared that a competing water authority that used to receive their water from Gadsden said he did not know how “that nasty Coosa water” could win a best-tasting water contest. Thomas said it was “a matter of preference.”
Whorton Bend will now have an opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in the national rural water tasting contest in February 2027.
“I will go with pride and confidence representing my Whorton Bend community and the City of Gadsden,” Thomas said.
When asked what he thought about the best-tasting water award, Gadsden Mayor Craig Ford jokingly asked his executive assistant, Dawn O’Sullivan, to fetch him a glass of water.
“I think it is exciting,” Ford said. “That’s a big deal. Our clean water helps us recruit industry and more. Thank you for sharing that with us.”
