Kirk Douglas’ Sink--Water Less Foul

Berkeley Springs, W.Va., was one of the first American water sources to win fame, largely because of praise from George Washington himself. Even today it’s a spa sort of town that boasts three massage therapists for every lawyer. Every February, it hosts an international water tasting as part of its 10-week Festival of the Waters.

On Feb. 24 this year, the festival claimed to have assembled the largest body of waters, as it were, ever gathered for tasting. There were 47 bottled brands plus 23 local tap waters, including those of Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Barbara counties. Santa Barbara-based water writer Arthur von Wiesenberger took a sample of area 90210 water from a bathroom sink in Kirk Douglas’ house.

And now, the results of the 14-member panel’s judging.

* Top non-sparkling bottled water: Sweet Springs (West Virginia).

* Top sparkling water: Apollinaris (Germany).

* Top municipal tap water: Kent, Ohio.

Only the top five waters in any category are announced, but von Wiesenberger says the Beverly Hills Water--which is Metropolitan Water District stuff like most of the rest of the Los Angeles Basin drinks--came in sixth. How did this happen? “Mostly, I think,” says von Wiesenberger, “a lot of the other tap waters in the tasting were fouler.”