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By JOYANNA LOVE | Managing Editor

Dirt work is progressing for the Alabama Mineral Springs facility that will bottle the mineral-rich water from the spring in Mineral Springs.

This phase of the project is expected to be completed in about six weeks, Marty Malizio of Alabama Mineral Springs.

Diana Windsor of Alabama Mineral Springs said the old hotel that had been on the site has also been removed.

The prefabricated building, which will be the bottling facility, will go up soon after that, probably in June or July. Malizio said if things continue to go smoothly, then the bottling facility should be operational by August.

The facility design has been approved by the required health agencies, including the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the local health department.

“Everywhere we have gone, it has been a very nice crew,” Malizio said. “They have been very helpful and knowledgeable. That part is a true blessing. I praise God for all the connections.”

Bottles will be produced onsite from preforms. A machine blows the plastic preforms into the bottle shape. The bottle is then cleaned before being filled and capped. Malizio said when production begins the facility will produce bottles of 16.9 ounces and 20 ounces. Windsor said the water from the spring has six of seven electrolytes.

Label customization for special occasions will be an option. Starting out, the facility will produce 5,000 bottles of water per hour. When a second production line is added later, this number will double.

Windsor said a subscription service to have home delivery of the water will be available. Contracts for commercial distribution are in the works.

The facility plans to have five or six employees, some of which have already been hired.

The team is also looking to preserve the history of the site through videos on its website of interviews with local residents who remember the health retreat center, spa or restaurant that had been on the property. Windsor said the team has researched the history of the site, and they have been in contact with the grandchildren of a doctor who had a health retreat center onsite.

Plans are also in the works for the company to support recycling awareness and maintenance of wells.