An Ocala company is seeking a 20-year state permit to pump about 500,000 gallons of drinking water per day from two springs along County Road 470 near Sumterville.
Spring Water Resources of Ocala filed a permit application last month with the state Water Use Permit Bureau.
The water would be sold to Azure Water of Leesburg, whose clients include Consolidated Water Group, Publix, Niagara Bottling Co., DS Water and Nestle Water. Azure Water estimates its sales volume by 2025 will be 190 million gallons per year.
“Overall, this is a very good site for a spring water withdrawal project, utilizing a well, drilled to public supply standards, that is constructed near a flowing spring with excellent water quality, high spring flow rate, and definite hydrogeologic connection between the spring and well,” project consultant Vivian Bielski of Andreyev Engineering of Hudson stated in one of the application documents.
The well would pump water from Fern Spring and an unnamed spring east of CR 470 and north of U.S. 301 in Sumter County. A pumping station, loading driveway and office building would be built on the 10.5-acre property, which is owned by Spring Water Resources.
On an average day, the well operation would operate 13.3 hours, filling 80 trucks with 6,200 gallons each. But during peak months, the well would operate 24 hours a day, pumping 892,000 gallons a day and filling 144 trucks, according to permit application documents.
A hydrogeologic analysis estimates the well will lower the surficial aquifer by 0.4 feet and would lower the Florida aquifer by 0.25 feet. Estimated flow rates of the two springs are 11.8 million gallons a day.
Inactive quarries north, east and southeast of the project site are not classified as wetlands by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, according to the permit application. But they are designated as wetlands on a national inventory map.
Ralph Kerr, a senior professional geologist with the Water Use Permit Bureau in Tampa, said the application will undergo scrutiny.
“The permit application will be thoroughly reviewed to determine whether it meets the district’s conditions for issuance,” he said. “This means that the applicant must demonstrate a need for the water and also demonstrate that the proposed withdrawal will not cause harm to water resources or any existing legal user.”
Last year, the state granted a permit to Niagara Bottling Co. to nearly double its daily water pumping to 910,000 gallons per day from a well near Groveland.
Some Lake County residents said it was unfair to allow the increase when they faced lawn-watering restrictions. They also opposed the increase because the company is located in California.
Niagara officials said they pump less water than the amount used by juice and soft drink companies.
