Clinton Water Treatment Plant presented with best-tasting tap water trophy

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World
Steven Craig, a water treatment division manager with the City of Lawrence’s Municipal Services and Operations department, left, receives the trophy for best-tasting tap water in Kansas from Steve Nirschl, board chair of the Kansas section of the American Water Works Association, during the Lawrence City Commission's meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.
The taste of victory was sweet on Tuesday night for staff at the Clinton Water Treatment Plant as they accepted the trophy for the top tap water in the state of Kansas.
The city learned in September that the plant had won the best-tasting tap water award, which is given by the Kansas section of the American Water Works Association and the Kansas Water Environment Association. But it wasn’t until Tuesday night’s City Commission meeting that Steve Nirschl, board chair of the Kansas section, officially presented the trophy to the plant’s staff.
After accepting the trophy on Tuesday, Steven Craig, a water treatment division manager with the City of Lawrence’s Municipal Services and Operations department, said Tuesday that the recognition was “a great honor.”
As the Journal-World reported, the Clinton Lake plant won the recognition after a variety of improvements to improve the water’s taste and smell.
Previously, the water had sometimes been affected by a chemical called geosmin that’s produced by blue-green algae and can cause a musty or earthy odor. But the plant made adjustments to the way it filters out the geosmin and took advantage of partnerships with Kansas Biological Survey researchers to detect algae blooms at the lake and adjust accordingly.
Because it won this year’s state contest, the plant will have the chance to compete with cities across the nation next year at the American Water Works Association’s Annual Conference and Exposition. The city has won the state-level award before, in 2019, but that award was for water from its other plant on the Kansas River, as the Journal-World reported.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World
Steven Craig, a water treatment division manager with the City of Lawrence’s Municipal Services and Operations department, left, receives the trophy for best-tasting tap water in Kansas from Steve Nirschl, board chair of the Kansas section of the American Water Works Association, during the Lawrence City Commission’s meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.

photo by: Bremen Keasey
One of the water basins at the Clinton Lake Water Treatment Plant. The plant can treat up to 25 million gallons a day.