A Sip of Ol' Man River

Officials from New York City took the contest so seriously that they hand-carried their entry to Dallas in refrigerated containers normally used to ship organs for transplants. Chicago carefully drew its sample from a water crib three miles offshore in Lake Michigan. In all, seven U.S. cities and one Canadian city submitted samples of their drinking water to a tasting contest sponsored by the American Water Works Association. To the astonishment of connoisseurs, the three-judge panel turned noses up at New York's crystalline product from the Catskill Mountains and passed over Seattle's melted snow from the Cascade Range. The continent's most perfect eau ordinaire, it decided, was that of New Orleans, whose entry had been drawn from the muddy Mississippi River.

Ironically, just ten years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency had found New Orleans' water more suitable for boiling crawfish than for drinking, discovering 73 carbon compounds; the town's sewerage and water board had to upgrade its purification program. It is a never-ending struggle. Even as New Orleans officials were savoring their victory, a barge accident 50 miles upriver sent a 200,000-gal. oil slick floating toward town, forcing the shutdown of some water-intake facilities.