OTTAWA

Ottawa's tap water put to a taste test

ctvottawa.ca Published Tuesday, November 15, 2011 3:36PM EST

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As we covered Monday, the City of Ottawa's tap water has a perfect safety score – better than some bottled and filtered waters.

But in terms of actually drinking it, how does its taste stack up to the alternatives?

CTV Ottawa's John Hua put those three types of water to a blind taste test in the Byward Market.

Samplers took a sip from each of three unlabelled cups then chose their favourite, with tap water again having a strong showing.

"It kind of surprises me that I chose (tap water)," said Belinda Robinson after it was revealed she chose that option. "But it makes me feel good and as long as it's safe and it's being tested and good for my kids then I absolutely agree, just drink tap water."

Desiree Labelle said her choice was also good for her wallet.

"I think definitely drinking water at home; saving your water bottles and filling it up at home would be a lot better," she said.

The annual cost for buying bottled water is almost $3,200, over $100 for filtered water and $2.40 for tap water.

"I'd probably go with the middle one . . . because it just doesn't have an aftertaste while the other ones seemed to," said John Petrungaro.

After being told his choice was the tap water, he replied, "That works because I drink it anyway."

The high marks for Ottawa's tap water in both taste and safety come as environmental group Ecojustice released a report card on water safety across Canada.

Ontario ranked first with a grade of A, Quebec was in the middle of the pack with a B- and the federal government got an F for a lack of legislation and poor quality on First Nations reserves.

Here's how various jurisdictions rated in terms of tap water safety: