SCOTTSVILLE — Set against the backdrop of gentle hills in Allen County, Calvert Spring produces mineral rich water at a constant 54 degrees as it passes through underground limestone before brimming to the surface.

A two-story concrete pumping station sits atop the mouth of the spring and captures some of the water as it surfaces. The 1,200-gallon-per-minute runoff flows through an area managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and serves as a wetland, attracting hundreds of waterfowl to the area.

Runoff water is crystal clear, even after a heavy rain, and surrounded by endive on the edges as the water creates two meandering streams into the wetland area.

Calvert Spring, a 10-minute drive from downtown Scottsville on Pitchford Ridge Road, was Scottsville’s water source for 50 years until the city expanded its system and began getting its water from Barren River. When the city sold the spring and pumping station about 20 years ago, businessman Jim Myers dove into the bottled water industry, taking with him his only child, Sarah Myers.

They run Calvert Spring Water Co. with the father acting as the chief executive officer and the daughter, the company president.

“We made arrangements with the city to buy the spring,” Jim Myers said. “We worked on the project for about five years and went into business about 15 years ago.”

After the water winds its way through the underground limestone, picking up calcium and other minerals, it is pumped into the 11,000-square-foot bottling facility less than a mile away, where microfiltration, UV light and ozone are used to ensure the water’s safety while leaving in the minerals that set apart the taste of spring water from chlorinated drinking water.

“Our water is limestone based so it has more calcium content and a higher mineral content,” Sarah Myers said. There is no chlorine or sodium in the water.

The taste of the spring water is so different from chlorinated tap water that Sarah Myers’ dog won’t drink water from the tap. One of her customers has a cat that also prefers the taste of spring water.

Both Jim and Sarah Myers use the water in their homes. Jim Myers said it makes coffee and tea taste better.

“We pump the spring water directly into our building. We process it all according to FDA and EPA regulations,” she said.

The water is pumped into two 10,000-gallon storage tanks in the unmarked bottling facility. It is then sent through an automated bottling process, placed into 5-gallon plastic bottles, then trucked out to the company’s 1,000 customers in southcentral Kentucky. Calvert Spring Water bottles water two days a week.

The facility’s bottling apparatus bottles 200 5-gallon jugs per hour and in one day will use an entire 10,000-gallon tank. The company has three full-time employees and a few part-time employees.

Unlike chlorine, which stays in the water, ozone dissipates after 24 hours, leaving behind the taste of water with its naturally occurring minerals and no chlorine smell or aftertaste. The company conducts daily, weekly and annual tests on the water. All the water samples required to be tested are sent to state-certified labs. Calvert Spring Water also adheres to standards set by the International Bottled Water Association.

The family-owned company took a bit of a financial hit during the recession as people cut back on the luxury of bottled water, but sales have picked up again with factories and businesses making up the majority of the company’s customer base. Calvert Spring Water does sell some 16.9-ounce bottles of water that are bottled in a Georgia facility, but most of the business is based on the 5-gallon jugs. Some local businesses, including Paradise Point and J & L Market in Allen County, sell the bottles.

“We’ve got customers that have been with us since the beginning,” Sarah Myers said.

— Follow Assistant City Editor Deborah Highland on Twitter at twitter.com/bgdnnewseditor or visit bgdailynews.com.