* Water providers from seven counties competing for title
* Skagit PUD placed first last year in Pacific Northwest Best Tasting Water contest

Bellingham claims it has the best drinking water. But Skagit County’s main water purveyor says Bellingham’s all wet.

So begins the rematch in the Northwest water fight. And the Skagit County Public Utility District is taking off its gloves.

Last year, the Skagit PUD placed first in the American Water Works Association’s Pacific Northwest Best Tasting Water contest. The PUD’s water even placed fourth in the association’s national competition. Now PUD staff say they’re ready to defend their crown.

To qualify for the 2008 Pacific Northwest event, a PUD water sample must win the admiration of four judges at a precursory contest at 5 p.m. today at the Skagit River Brewery in Mount Vernon. Its competition will be a handful of other water providers from seven Northwest Washington counties.

“I want to win. We’ll win,” said Ed Heidt, water quality coordinator for the PUD, which provides drinking water to about 70,000 customers in mostly western Skagit County. The PUD’s water is gathered northeast of Clear Lake at Judy Reservoir, which is fed by four streams in the Cultus Mountain watershed.

Noting that Bellingham’s municipal water won the Northwest Washington contest in 2006, PUD spokesman Kevin Tate said the PUD was eyeing its competition carefully.

“They’re probably going to try and take it back from us,” Tate said.

That’s the plan, confirmed Geoffrey Smyth, an operations supervisor for Bellingham’s municipal water supply and treatment plant.

“We’re confident,” Smyth said. “We believe that we have superior water up here in Whatcom County. ... Everyone likes to think they have the best water. But unfortunately, we know up in Bellingham (that) we have the best water.”

Preparation for the contest can be intense. Heidt has been methodically rinsing out the official, 0.946-liter brown glass bottles he’ll use to store the PUD’s water entry. He has to be certain the bottles are free of any unwanted plastic residue. Then he’ll open up a tap at the PUD’s Mount Vernon office and let it run to flush the plumbing of other pesky particles.

Finally, Heidt will fill up the official entry bottles to the rim with the crystal-clear liquid. The bottles will then be chilled to preserve the fluid content’s minerals, chemicals and other components. The water won’t be brought to room temperature until tonight’s contest, when four judges will examine it for flavor, odor and aftertaste.

“It’s a big deal,” Heidt emphatically spoke of the contest. “It’s really huge.”

The Skagit PUD may be playing up tonight’s event, but Jeff Lundt, volunteer president of the water association’s Northwest Washington subsection, said such competitions aren’t really taken seriously.

“This is for bragging rights,” said Lundt, whose day job is to monitor the treated water runoff from King County’s Bright Water Treatment Plant. “There’s a lot of poking between the different folks at utility meetings. There’s a lot of kidding around. It’s all very good-natured.”

Several bravado-infused comments made by PUD staff indicate the water provider has a knack for bragging.

“We’re excited,” Tate said. “I think we have the best-tasting water in the Northwest, and I think it’ll show (to)night.”

Lundt doesn’t begrudge the Skagit PUD, however, for taking pride in last year’s first-place finish.

“They’ve been riding high for a year,” Lundt said.

* Franny White can be reached at 360-416-2148 or