The Cheongju treatment plant's water ranked 7th in ‘the 22nd Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting’, which was held from the 23rd to the 25th of February, and this is the highest record in Asia.
  ‘The Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting’, which began in 1991, is held at the end of February each year in the historic spa town of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. The competition is the largest and the longest running known such event in the world. In the competition, a total of 86 waters participated in fields such as municipal water and mineral water. Among these, 32 waters, including K-water, competed in the municipal water field. Recording 7th is a great outcome considering Miryang of South Korea ranked 10th in the same competition last year.
  Meanwhile, Chungcheong water supply regional headquarters has made various efforts to record within the top 10 in the competition. They organized a team to prepare for the competition, and the team improved the water treatment and the bottled water production process by having production facilities checked at bottled water producing factories. The municipal water for entry was evaluated in advance by a K-water tastes and smells evaluation team, which consists of 'water sommeliers' with Water Quality Analysis Research Center backing. The evaluation results were used to make up for the weak points of the water.
  The water management section chief of Chungcheong water supply regional headquarters, Kang Jae-sun, who participated on the preparing team, said, “Municipal waters which held high ranks are underground waters which are known for tasty flavors because they contain a large amount of minerals. On the other hand, Cheongju municipal water of K-water is rain. Because South Korea has few sources of water, South Korea is storing rain and using it as tap water. Cheongju municipal water's high ranking is noteworthy, considering that usually rain is less tasty because it contains less minerals.”