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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Readers' Choice Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Neighborhoods Employment Guide Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend November 13, 2006 Butte Falls bottles its water Ginger Springs has long been a local source of pure water, and now, with an upgraded pipe, it can provide revenue for its source city By Jennifer Strange for the Mail Tribune BUTTE FALLS — At a cost of $3,000, Butte Falls has tapped into a new revenue flow: spring water. Thanks to the recent installation of an upgraded water line from the head of Ginger Springs north of Butte Falls, a 6,000 gallon water truck is filling up once a week. The water, pristine and untouched, is bottled into three- and five-gallon containers for business and residential use by Crystal Fresh Bottled Water in Grants Pass. "We were using an older line from the spring that we wanted to upgrade," said Shelby Farmer, owner of the company that has been bottling Ginger Springs water for about a year and a half. "The city ran a new line next to the old line which had some rust issues and needed to be replaced." Selling spring water has been a long-time dream of Butte Falls Mayor Ron Ormond, who started bottling city water in 1974 "mainly as a joke." "When they wanted me to run for office the first time, I said we're going to sell bulk water," he said. "We built the bulk water plant with an eight-inch line and we started selling to a guy and he's been buying the water ever since. Then we wanted to make some more money and decided to sell the spring water." Advertisement That was about two years ago, when the Butte Falls Community Development Corp. was hoping to obtain funding to build a water-bottling plant. Earlier this year, the corporation disbanded, transferring all its funds to the city. To help promote the spring water, which flows out of the ground about a mile above town and forms Ginger Creek, the city installed a six-inch, 200-foot-long, food-grade pipe with high-tech stainless steel fittings about a month ago. The pipe feeds down the hill toward the city tank and treatment plant near Willow Lake, where it is tapped before entering the chlorination chamber. Running right next to the new pipe is the city's bulk water pipe, which delivers the spring water through the treatment system and into the municipality, just like it has done in some form for more than a century. "The source has been around since before the town was put here," said Ormond. "The water used to flow down into a cistern deal that filled up and the sediments would settle down then the water would flow down to town through cedar pipes. That all came together when town was formed in 1906." Now others can enjoy the pure H2O, including Crystal Fresh bottled water customers. Crystal Fresh started in Cave Junction almost 28 years ago and has expanded to cover most of southwest Oregon. Customers in the Cave Junction and Oregon coast areas are still served with water that comes from the original Cave Junction source. "But as we expanded into this area, we needed an additional source of water to meet our needs," said Farmer. "We looked for several years and wanted to find something of really high quality that would match the existing quality of our water. When you're trying to find the best for your customers, you look around." Farmer had known of Ginger Springs and eventually approached the city of Butte Falls about working with them. "They have an excellent source of water and wanted to promote it," Farmer said. "We decided to strike up an agreement ... ." Water from Ginger Springs has been bottled by Crystal Fresh for about a year and a half, labeled as spring water. Although the water has always come directly from the springhead, the new secondary line allows the company to avoid any gray area regarding the water's source, said Farmer. "This bypass line means it's the same water, we just got rid of the connotation that it is also used for the municipality," Farmer said. "We don't remove any minerals, it hasn't been chlorinated and we don't put any bleach in the water to transport it. It's as pure and natural as it can be." The city of Butte Falls foots an annual $1,500 water quality test, with results available from the DEQ at www.deq.state.or.us/wq online. Each test has shown the water to be free of harmful materials, said Ormond. "Our spring water is slowly taking off and we keep pushing it," said the mayor. "We built all the transmission lines big enough so if someone wanted to build a bottling plant, it could be done. The whole object of it is to benefit the town — we have the water sitting there and should use it." Jennifer Strange is a freelance writer living in Central Point. Reach her at [email protected]. Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback online casinos news Home Security Systems Online Casino Reviews Men's Clothing Fundraisers UK Homeowner Loans Discount Hotel Reservations Send Flowers Casinos Canada Texas Electric Choice Compare Electric rates in Texas Windermere Van Vleet Trunks, Footlocker Online poker at AbsolutePoker.com