An expert I know confirms that our water tastes best
May 26th, 2009 by cdunaganIn December, my wife Sue and I moved into a house on a private well out near Camp Union west of Bremerton. The water tastes better than any we have ever tasted.
Last week, I learned that a sample of water from Silverdale Water District was judged the best-tasting of any in the Northwest. It was the first time that the district had entered the contest, and now Silverdale’s water moves on to national competition. (See my story in today’s Kitsap Sun.)
Morgan Johnson, manager of the water district, tells me that the district chose to enter the contest with a sample of water from its well off Newberry Hill Road. It turns out, according to Johnson, that this well draws from the same aquifer as the well at our house. He said the aquifer is fed by rains that fall on Green Mountain.
It’s quite a coincidence that the water we’ve been raving about the past few months has now won a taste test.
When it comes to knowing water, I consider my wife the ultimate connoisseur, because of a surgery she went through several years ago. The surgery, done with a laparoscope, was needed to repair a hiatal hernia, which is caused by a defect in the way the esophagus passes through the diaphragm and into the stomach.
During the surgery, a rare complication occurred when a tube inserted into the esophagus punched a hole. The surgeon repaired the tear in the esophagus, but Sue was kept in the hospital with orders not to eat or drink anything by mouth until the damage healed.
That turned out to be nearly 10 days, during which time Sue would experience vivid dreams of floating in a raft down a river of crystal-clear water — the purist liquid you can imagine — and drinking from the river whenever she wanted. Only in her dreams could she take a drink, though she would have given anything for a sip of real water.
After seven days, Sue was given small chips of ice but could only suck on them and spit out the water. Despite an unbearable urge to swallow, she could not do so.
When she was finally permitted to let small sips of water wash down her parched throat, Sue experienced the ultimate refreshment of her life. Ever since then, she has never taken water for granted.
Sue told me recently, after living in our new home, that it reminded her of the surgery — but in a good way. The water from our well tasted exactly like the crystal-clear river she had only dreamed about until now.
So, if Silverdale’s water wins the national contest, it will not only be the best-tasting water in the country but also the best my personal taste-tester can imagine.
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
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