An Ocala company hopes by November to begin pumping nearly 500,000 gallons of drinking water per day from two springs along County Road 470 near Sumterville.
SWR Properties, also known as Spring Water Resources, filed an application for a 20-year permit two months ago with the state Water Use Permit Bureau.
A well would pump water from Fern Spring and an unnamed spring east of CR 470 and north of U.S. 301 in Sumter County. The company plans to build a pumping station, loading driveway and modular office building on the 10.5-acre property, which it owns.
A decision has not been made on granting the permit and Ralph Kerr, a senior professional geologist with the Water Use Permit Bureau in Tampa, did not say when it would be coming.
“We met with the applicant and the consultant on site,” he said in response to an email query. “There are no other developments.”
To receive permit approval, Kerr said the applicant must show a need for the water and that the proposed withdrawal will not harm water resources or existing legal users.
He said a public hearing is not required because the company has requested permission to pump 496,000 gallons a day, which is slightly below the 500,000-gallon threshold that would require a public hearing.
Besides the water permit, the company also will need permits from Sumter County to build on the property and from the state for sanitary sewer facilities.
In its latest revised business plan, the company said it plans to complete site improvements and begin operation by November.
The water will be sold to Azure Water of Leesburg, which supplies grocery, convenience and other stores with bottled water. A list of Azure’s clients, which apparently includes Niagara Bottling Co. and other bottlers, was removed from the revised business plan. Azure Water estimates its 2025 sales volume will be about 190 million gallons a year.
According to documents filed for the permit, the well normally would operate 13.3 hours a day and fill 80 trucks with 6,200 gallons each. During peak months, however, the well would operate 24 hours a day, pumping 892,000 gallons and filling 144 trucks.
An environmental analysis estimated the well would 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.
