{"id":428384,"date":"2026-05-15T04:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T04:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/428384\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T04:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T04:00:09","slug":"manawatu-tap-water-crowned-nz-champion-but-loses-to-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/428384\/","title":{"rendered":"Manawat\u016b tap water crowned NZ champion but loses to Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a closely fought competition, Manawat\u016b lost to the Northern Territory\u2019s Katherine water treatment plant.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s four New Zealand grand finalists were the Rotorua Lakes Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Manawat\u016b District Council and Napier City Council.<\/p>\n

\"JoshJosh Palmer of the Waimakariri District Council rates water samples during the first heat of this year’s National Water Taste Test. Photo \/ Annabel Reid<\/p>\n

Judges said in a media release that all four delivered a high standard of water, but the decision in favour of Manawat\u016b was unanimous.<\/p>\n

The transtasman test was decided by popular vote and \u201ccould have gone either way\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Timaru District Council won New Zealand\u2019s best tap water last year<\/a>, but lost against a Queensland entry.<\/p>\n

Rotorua\u2019s Karamu Takina Spring won the national title in 2024<\/a> and drew with a Tasmanian supply.<\/p>\n

Rotorua\u2019s Energy Events Centre hosted this year\u2019s competitions at the annual Water Industry Operations Group of New Zealand (WIOG) conference and awards.<\/p>\n

All municipal water suppliers were invited to submit samples. which judges assessed in a blind taste test using the Water Tasting Wheel, which measures qualities such as colour, clarity, smell and taste.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Manawat\u016b, Rotorua, Western Bay and Napier councils were grand finalists in the 2026 IXOM National Water Taste Test. Photo \/ Annabel Reid<\/p>\n

Organisers said the National Water Taste Test was a fun way to raise awareness of the quality of drinking water in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

It also recognised the efforts of local water operators and their teams who deliver this valuable water service to their communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of us turn on taps for a drink, to cook and to shower, with little thought about the complexities involved in operating and maintaining the water infrastructure,\u201d said WIOG chairman Joshua McIndoe in the media release. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis competition highlights the dedication of individuals and organisations that work tirelessly to provide their communities with safe, high-quality drinking water every day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a closely fought competition, Manawat\u016b lost to the Northern Territory\u2019s Katherine water treatment plant. This year\u2019s four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,9092,85,1558,219575,3013,6028,13114,9881,1345,11517,10509,3607,111,43,139,69,1562,1327,73393,61,376,3457,2963],"class_list":["post-428384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-against","tag-australia","tag-been","tag-besttasting","tag-but","tag-champion","tag-crowned","tag-facing","tag-home","tag-loses","tag-manawat","tag-napier","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-plenty","tag-rotorua","tag-tap","tag-to","tag-water","tag-western","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}