By Judy Sheahan
September 19, 2011

Racine (WI) Mayor John Dickert at Racine’s September 6 City Council meeting accepted a $15,000 check and the designation as having the “Best Tasting Tap Water in America” by The U.S. Conference of Mayors. The competition was sponsored by American Water.

Dickert credited the superior quality of the drinking water to the professional city employees who operate the water treatment plant. He said, “This award recognizes and affirms the hard work and dedication Racine has to always provide the best to our residents and the world.”

Earlier that day, Dickert, along with City Administrator Tom Friedel, General Manager of Racine’s Water and Wastewater Utilities Keith Haas, and Research Scientist and Laboratory Director Julie Kinzelman, gave a tour to Lendel Jones of American Water and Judy Sheahan of the Conference of Mayors of the innovative water projects that were being implemented in Racine.

Racine’s drinking water system takes water from Lake Michigan where it goes through a duo system of sand filters and membrane technology. There is also a heavy emphasis on cleaning the stormwater that flows into the lake through green infrastructure on the city streets as well as creating sand dunes and beach slopes that slow down and hold water from stormwater events where the water can then be filtered using the sand on the beach and native vegetation as well as more traditional grey infrastructure models.

Hass said, “It makes my job easy to clean the water if the source water is clean.”

Racine’s beach restoration, in addition to protecting the water that goes into Lake Michigan, also serves as an economic asset for the region. For the last five years, North Beach has hosted the EVP Pro Series National Beach Volleyball Championship which generates $175,000 in revenue annually. In 2011, North Beach hosted Ironman events for men and women which netted about $2 million in revenue. Parent’s Magazine has voted North Beach as one of the top 10 beaches to take your family, and in 2010, North Beach became the first Wisconsin Great Lakes beach to be fully handicap accessible.

Jones said, “Your city has a lot to be proud of which is evident through the tour we took and the dedication of the staff. I look forward to coming back here again.”

Constellation Energy also announced at the city council meeting that they officially “greened” the Water Award event by providing energy credits from green sources of energy to offset the normal amount of energy used by the city for the day. The mayor said he was very grateful for both the award and for making a day in Racine as green as possible.