Old Weymouth, N.S., bottling plant fountain still flowing, despite drought

Along the side of the road in drought-strickenWeymouth, N.S.,fresh spring water gushes from an old fountain, attracting people from every direction.

People having been coming herefor decades, but this yearthe dry conditions in southern Nova Scotia have made traffic at the fountainoutside the old Jones Bottling plant especially heavy.

On Wednesday, asteady stream of cars and truckstoppedto fill up empty jugs and tanks with water.

Fountain running since 1960s

DonBeelerfilled the massive water holder on the back of his pickup truck. He said he's working 10 to12 hours a day,delivering water to peoplewho haveno water left in their wells.

"I've talked to people fromBarringtontoMiddletonand they are coming here to get their water," he said.

Back in the early1960s,theJones Bottling plant,which made Pepsi products, were digginga new well whenthe water rush began.

"We dug a well and went down 45 feet and struck fourfeet of sand and gravel and 200 gallons a minute started coming," said Johnny Jones, 82, who said the fountain was his idea.

Jones says the water is from an underground river that is fed from Delaps Lake about 12 kilometres away.

Filtered through natural ridge

The sandthe water is filtered through is a natural ridge formed by an ancient glacier.

"It's good quality spring water and it flows like this year-round and we need it around here" said Kevin Tibbett, who stopped to fill up four large containers.Like so many other Nova Scotians, Tibbett'swell is dry.

Father Vincent Onyekelu, the parish priest at thechurch in Weymouth, stopped by to bless the water.

"This water is water for life. It is a gift from God," he said.

This isn't the first time the spring water has been blessed. Jones sayshe brought a minister down to bless it when it first opened to the public.

TheJones Bottling plant has been closed for a while. It's being remodeled toreopen as Canadian Artesian Springs.