The Roslyn Water District was crowned the winner in the downstate regional drinking water taste contest, held at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan and attended by Roslyn Water Commissioner Jack Russo and Superintendent Richard Passariello. Other participating public suppliers included South Huntington Water District, Rosendale Water District of Ulster County, Greenburgh Consolidate #1 of Westchester County, Croton-on-Hudson of Westchester County and New York City's water.

Many of the blind taste participants were New Yorkers as well as out-of-towners passing by the front of the museum.

Roslyn is now invited to compete against nine other downstate regional finalists for the state title on Aug. 29 at the New York State Fair in Syracuse. The competition will include the South Huntington Water District, which took second-place in the downstate regional contest.

In contests sponsored by the Long Island Water Conference earlier this year, the Roslyn Water District was named both Nassau County and Long Island's Best Tasting Tap Water. Founded in 1910, the Roslyn Water District serves a population of 17,000 via 15 deep wells in a 5.1 square mile area by way of 90 miles of water mains.

At the conclusion of the contest, when approached by the media, Commissioner Russo attributed the district's success to its personnel having an aggregate total of 175 years in the drinking water industry; and the district's compliance with each and every regulatory requirement issued by Nassau County, New York State and the federal government.

"Long Islanders are truly fortunate to have some of the best drinking water in the nation," said LIWC Chairperson Bob Swartz. "Thanks to our underground aquifers, dedicated suppliers and stringent regulations, we can always count on a clean, safe and abundant supply of water from our taps - we are all winners here."

Established in 1951, the Long Island Water Conference is a professional organization dedicated to providing and maintaining an adequate and safe public water supply system on Long Island. Members include Nassau-Suffolk's public water suppliers, consulting engineers, attorneys, water contractors and officials from governmental regulatory agencies.