Paradise Springs

[Steve Thacker]

I am a retired hydrogeologist and now dive shop owner who has dived Paradise Springs on several occasions. One of my favorite sayings from Bob Dylan is "you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." The same for groundwater - you don't need a sinkhole to get water from the aquifer!! You are correct in your assessment.

[Ken Hill]

Bob Dylan aside. Bottlers have the right to label their product "Spring Water" when the water rise naturally to the surface of the earth. Spring water has a premium placed on it as opposed to plain bottled water.

Here's what the FDA says : Spring water. Derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the earth's surface. Spring water must be collected only at the spring or through a borehole tapping the underground formation feeding the spring. If some external force is used to collect the water through a borehole, the water must have the same composition and quality as the water that naturally flows to the surface.


Bottlers can drill a well pipe in the ground and it has to be proven through direct passage or dye trace that it is the same water having a route to the surface. In the case of Madison, Zephyrhills and Ginnie the well casing is in proven passage flowing to the surface.

The mining of the water is a different matter. In the above cases there is a distance of maybe a 100 meters to a 1000 meters from the well pipe to the processing plant. In the case of Paradise and Blue Grotto, the water would have to be trucked out to be processed elsewhere.

It can't be piped out as in the case of Paradise because the south property border is a national historic landmark. It's a cemetery that's been there since the time of slavery and has some interesting markers and really is a piece of history. The other route is the railroad and private family farms. In the case of Blue grotto the neighbors don't want trucks and wouldn't allow an easement for a pipe. /Ken

[phishfood]

Isn't the guy who owns Paradise, the brother of the guy who owns Blue Grotto? Where there was similar "talk" of a water bottling company coming in, and trying to sell the property for some astronomical price?

As was mentioned, what bottling company is going to want to bottle in a system with nearly no flow?

Perrone, I seem to recall that the current owner bought the property from the brother of the owner of Blue Grotto.The owner and his wife are super nice people.

A price of 2.2 million seems pretty steep. I am wondering, how solid is the information on the asking price?

[PerroneFord]

I dove Paradise earlier this year. Met the wife. Nice. But after 2 dives there, I had pretty much seen all I needed to of the place. I just couldn't envision ANYONE, much less a cave agency, paying $2.2M. In fact, you could move that decimal one place to the left, and that would just about cover it.

[OWSI176288]

http://www.ocala.com/article/2008022...42/1001/NEWS01

[Wizard]

Mike Edmonston wrote:

Just an observation,

Does a bottling plant need a karst window to access the water supply? Can they not just stick a pipe down until they hit the spring or acquifer? I'm not a geologist, I don't play one on TV, and I don't stay at a Holiday Inn Express, but is seems to me that the cave systems are under most of Florida right?



Mike, I've always thought the same thing. Why not find your own aquifer and not disturb a known flowing stream of water?

[ajimmythekid]

Mike Edmonston wrote:

Just an observation,

Does a bottling plant need a karst window to access the water supply? Can they not just stick a pipe down until they hit the spring or acquifer? I'm not a geologist, I don't play one on TV, and I don't stay at a Holiday Inn Express, but is seems to me that the cave systems are under most of Florida right?



Mike, I've always thought the same thing. Why not find your own aquifer and not disturb a known flowing stream of water?

No window needed, "Spring Lake Bottling CO." (4 miles from my Brooksville house) pumps directly out of the ground using a 9" well case that goes 380' deep and a 6" main ; Z-Hills water is the same too (i've been told)

[Mike Edmonston]

Where is the "Ginnie springs" water from Publix pumped from? I see the botteling plant whenever I go to Ginnie, but do they have a well? or are they taking it from the river?

Just curious...

[ajimmythekid]

Where is the "Ginnie springs" water from Publix pumped from? I see the botteling plant whenever I go to Ginnie, but do they have a well? or are they taking it from the river?

Just curious...

The only place I know that pumps out of a cave is vortex (for cleanning the pond i think)

[Blackchains]

I was at Paradise last weekend the owner told me the cave goes to 200'+ after a small restriction, he had dove it that deep but indicated he talked first hand to the person that did.

The place is also somewhat of a cash cow. If the property includes the house and horsebarn, it really is not a bad price.