Spring Evaluation & Development: Can You Bottle Your Water?

Does your land have a natural spring or well? Have you ever wondered whether your spring water is suitable for bottling? At Mill Creek Environmental, our extensive experience in spring evaluation and management includes spring location, evaluation, development, permitting, protection and long term spring and well management. In the Southeastern United States and Canada, we have evaluated over 2000 springs for the possible development of spring water for bottling in line with US FDA Regulations and permitting.

Our Spring Evaluation and Development services include:

  • Hydrogeological spring evaluations – to study the occurrence, use and rates of water flow through sediments and bedrock.
  • Spring capacity testing and stream gauging – to measure the discharge or volume of water moving through a channel, per unit of time, of a spring or stream.
  • Spring recharge and evaluation – to evaluate the areas where water infiltrates the permeable rock and sediment to replenish the spring.
  • Spring supply well and observation well design and installation – evaluation of any supply well and the design and installation of observation wells to observe any changes in groundwater level.
  • Spring and groundwater sampling and analysis – to test for levels of contaminants (chemical, physical, microbial and radiological) present in the spring water.
  • Fracture trace analysis – to analyze bedrock fractures in bedrock that may yield high amounts of ground water around the spring or well site.
  • Cave spring diving – to evaluate the source of a spring located within a cave or cavern.
  • Spring water withdrawal impact assessments – to evaluate the impact of water withdrawal from your spring or well. Intensive withdrawals can lead to springs, wells and wetlands drying up in turn causing harm to wildlife and contamination.
  • Permitting – to assist with all aspects and adherence to regulations when submitting permit applications.
  • Springhead and wellhead security – to evaluate and devise protective zoning around a springhead or wellhead to prevent polluting land use activities.
  • Long term spring monitoring and management – advice and expertise into the future with Mill Creek Environmental.

Regulations for the Bottling of Spring or Mineral Water

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established specific regulations for bottled water in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR), so it is imperative to evaluate your spring or well to ensure that you are able to meet the regulations to obtain your permit to bottle your water. 

The regulations include:

  • Standard of Identity Regulations (21 CFR 165.110 [a]) which defines the different types of bottled water, such as spring water, artesian water, ground water, purified water, sparkling bottled water, well water, mineral water and so on.
  • Standard of Quality Regulations (21 CFR 165.110 [b]) which establishes the allowable levels of contaminants (chemical, physical, microbial and radiological) in each type of bottled water.

At Mill Creek Environmental, our expertise in spring evaluation and development will ensure that your spring water is assessed to the highest standard. After our evaluations, if your water is within regulations for bottling, we can help you submit your permitting applications and continue to monitor and manage your spring or well site moving forward. For your no obligation quote, contact us here or call 706-579-1607

 

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