This City is Now Home to Minnesota’s Best-Tasting Tap Water

Minnesota might be the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but one city just proved its tap water is worth raising a glass to, and locals are soaking up the bragging rights that their city has the best-tasting tap water in the state in 2025.

Living here in Minnesota, we like to think we know something about water, right? I mean, our state proudly proclaims that we possess 10,000 lakes, even though the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources points out that there are actually 11,842 lakes 10 acres or bigger here in our fair state.

And, when it comes to drinking water, Minnesota isn't exactly a slouch, either. No matter where you go here in the North Star State, when you first set foot inside a city or town, chances are there's a water tower there to greet you, right?

ALSO INTERESTING: Have You Seen What It's Like Inside of One of Minnesota's Many Water Towers?

In fact, the website Minnesota Water Towers-- yes, it's a site devoted entirely to Minnesota's many unique water towers-- says there are 1,080 water towers or reservoirs scattered throughout our state.

The Results Are In! Find Out Which Minnesota City Has the Best-Tasting Tap Water of 2025

But just which water tower contains the best drinking water in the Bold North? That's a question the good folks over at the Minnesota Section of the American Waterworks Association (MN AWWA) set out to answer every year.

They hold a 'Best in Glass' competition yearly during their annual conference in Duluth. The 2025 conference was held September 16th through the 19th, by the way. And during that conference, 117 attendees again conducted a blind taste test of numerous samples of tap water to just see just which Minnesota municipality's water was indeed the best of the Bold North.

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Minneapolis Tap Water Takes Top Honors in Annual 'Best in Glass' Competition

And, this year, the new Best in Glass champion is... the city of Minneapolis! That's right, the largest city in the state is now also home to the best-tasting water in Minnesota, according to Fox 9 TV, which reported that the City of Lakes was the most recent MN AWWA competition winner.

The story also says that St. Cloud, Shoreview, and Chaska were the other finalists in this year's competition. Chaska, by the way, happened to be the winner of the 2025 State Fair Tap Water Taste Test, which took place during this year's Great Minnesota Get-Together in August, Fox 9 TV said.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Rural Water Association held its own Best in Glass competition earlier this year, and the winner was the city of Sturgeon Lake, located about 90 minutes north of the Twin Cities, just west of I-35.

Why Minneapolis Tap Water Is Considered The Best in Minnesota

Minneapolis, which last won the contest two years ago in 2023, is now gearing up to head to the American Water Works Association Best in Glass water tasting competition at its conference in Washington, D.C. in June 2026, Fox 9 TV noted. The city of Bloomington won the contest in 2024.

So congrats to Minneapolis on their great-tasting water. Now, speaking of water, keep scrolling to check out some of Minnesota's *other* water features-- those incredibly scenic waterfalls that are also scattered across the state!

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