Texas family's natural spring becomes thriving business
KELLER, Texas When the McCombs family moved to their new 20-plus acre property in Keller, Texas, they experienced immediate watery problems.
Chelsea McCombs told CBS Texas her father would dig a fence post hole and it would fill with water.
"All you had to do was add concrete!"
The unexpected find was a natural spring, located where early settlers had once lived, in a town called Double Springs.
The town existed until the mid-1800's, when the railroad was built just a few miles away.
The town plugged the spring with a large barrel and literally moved their homes and businesses to what is now downtown Keller.
Joe McCombs said he dug in front of the spring and created a system whereby the water flows into an in-ground silo.
Water now rushes from pipes into the well below and some flows into a large pond nearby.
Other water is diverted to a nearby bottling plant where the family can either ship out the water to retailers in bulk or bottle it for home or office use.
The family has also used its fortune to help others. They recently shipped a truck load of water to help the residents of West who were impacted the fertilizer plant explosion.
And they've named their spring Samantha Springs, in memory of their three-year-old who died from heart problems back in 1993.
"There's just something about the water," Chelsea said. "It's just real peaceful."
"It's kind of our little treasure out here."