Water Week Event Draws Hundreds

This year's Water Week event was held on Friday and Saturday, May 10th and 11th on the Ithaca Commons and at the Ithaca Farmer's market in celebration of National Drinking Water Week. It was cohosted by the Tompkins County Health Department and the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network. Participants included nonprofit organizations, citizen groups, and local government agencies, and information on water related issues were made available to the public through discussions, displays, demonstrations and pamphlets. The Ithaca Area Waste Water Treatment Facility also provided free boat rides into the Cayuga inlet to demonstrate lake water sampling techniques. Along with the displays, the 9th Annual Tompkins Drinking Water Taste Test was held. Seven municipal water systems in Tompkins County participated in the contest this year, and 279 people took the test. Trumansburg won the contest, followed by the City of Ithaca, Village of Dryden, Bolton Point (last year's winner), Cornell, Newfield, and Groton respectively.

All in all, the celebration was a great success, with this year having the highest turn out so far!