Plant City, Crystal Springs Owner Settle Suit Over Pumping Permit

Crystal Springs, the manufacturers of the bottled water brand Zephyrhills, settled a suit with Plant City, Fla., that would make the Southwest Florida Water Management District decide at its meeting Tuesday if it should approve a permit. The permit Crystal Springs is seeking is to allow it to increase its pumping of spring water from 300,000 gallons a day to 755,000 for the bottling of Zephyrhills brand water, reported an article on Tampa Bay Online.

The pumping, which would take place in the spring that feeds the Hillsborough River, at the same time would reduce pumping at the adjacent Two River Ranch from 1.2 million gallons per day to approximately 392,000, the article reported.

The city originally contended that the permit could not allow the transfer of water between permits, but the settlement agreed that it was not a transfer. The spring owners, Crystal Springs Preserve, agreed to undergo a six-month study that would show that reclaimed water from Plant City could be used at the ranch.

When the study's results are released, the ranch could be ordered to use the reclaimed water if feasible. Scientists already have reported that the increased pumping would "offset the increase," stated the article.

Source: Tampa Bay Online