poland spring bottling plant tour

Poland Spring Preservation Park

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Poland Spring Preservation Park - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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Poland Spring Bottling Museum: The source of Poland Spring water history, from chasing thirsty cows to selling water worldwide

The unique museum in Poland — full of history and hands-on exhibits — highlights Maine's pure water as much as the marketing and business genius of Hiram Ricker.

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POLAND — If you live on Earth, you’ve likely heard of Poland Spring water.

But did you know about the museum, which includes the original spring house and a restored bottling plant?

Poland Spring Bottling Museum

• Address: 123 Preservation Way (just off Route 26), Poland
• Phone: 207-998-4142
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.polandspring.com
• Open: Memorial Day to Indigenous Peoples Day (formerly Columbus Day), Oct. 10
• Hours: 9-4 Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday; 9-noon Sunday; closed Tuesday and Wednesday
• Admission: Free
• No appointment needed. Face masks not required.
• Upcoming: Poland Spring Heritage Weekend & Strawberry Festival, Sept. 16-18, Poland Spring Resort

Did you know about the new children’s exhibits, the celebrity connections, the ghost stories?

If not, you might want to take a tour of the Poland Spring Bottling Museum just off Route 26.

Completed in 1907, the original spring house and bottling plant feature marble walls, steps and pillars. “No expense was spared,” Community Relations Manager Heather Printup said during a recent tour.

The plant and spring house comprise one of three museums in Poland Spring Preservation Park. The others are All Souls Chapel and the Maine State Building, which was bought from the state and moved to Poland Spring from the Chicago World’s Fair in 1894. Advertisement

The bottling museum buildings were “faithfully” restored in a three-year project that began in 1998, according to the Poland Spring Preservation Society.

Last year, a children’s exhibit was added. It features a toy steam locomotive (Poland Spring’s water was shipped by rail well into the 20th century), water-monitoring equipment and an interactive stream-grading game. Another exhibit shows how precipitation penetrates a watershed. At the push of a button, pellets pour down a mountainside into the valley below.

This is the Poland Spring Source Building and Historic Bottling Museum, constructed in 1907 by Hiram Ricker and Sons Co. It was a state-of-the-art bottling plant and spring house with glass and silver piping, and even featured showers for the workers to use prior to beginning their shift. Poland Spring Bottling Museum

Children also can operate a bottle conveyor system (the bottles are plastic), a hand pump and a bottle capper.

The exhibit is a “big educational” draw for summer campers and local schoolchildren on field trips, Printup said.

It’s also a tourist destination.

During a recent visit, children from New York were touring the museum, apparently (and loudly) enjoying the new exhibits. Comments of “Cool!” and “Fun!” could be heard. Advertisement

The older exhibits are chockfull of history. The original spring, with a sign proclaiming it as The Source of water that eventually became an international phenomenon, is enclosed behind a glass wall in a brick building.

The bedrock spring no longer provides water for bottling. It bubbles up 15 gallons per minute, Printup said. That would nowhere near keep up with current demand, she said.

The adjacent original bottling plant is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It once employed 25 men working in shifts around the clock. Visitors could watch the process through glass walls.

“It was a very transparent, very proud operation,” Printup said.

A conveyor system carried the bottles from the plant via a “subway” tunnel to warehouses on the property. The tunnel is now filled in.

But the marble shower room is part of the plant’s $3 million restoration. Employees were required to take hot showers before every shift and to dress in white linen lab coats and slacks. Advertisement

This contributed to the company’s reputation for hygiene and purity.

Poland Water, as it was then called, earned recognition for its fresh taste at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

In 1904, it won the grand prize, “besting all of the waters of the world,” at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis.

The Harley family of Newburyport, Massachusetts, exits The Source Building in mid-August, which houses the original bedrock Poland Spring spring. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

“More in demand than ever, Poland Spring Natural Spring Water became the drink of choice on Pullman cars, transatlantic ships — and even zeppelins! (aka giant blimps),” according to the Preservation Society, which owns the museum.

The water was fed from the spring house to the plant through glass and silver piping, she said.

The pipes led to “highly polished granite retaining tanks, sealed under a sheet of plate glass in the Bottling House,” according to “An Illustrated History of Poland Spring, 1914.” Advertisement

The walls, ceiling and floors were made of marble, tile or glass, with plate-glass windows that were always closed.

“All of the air is brought down through the large tower and forced into the room in a filtered condition,” according to the illustrated history.

“The Sanitary Inspector” reported in June 1897 that “all germs are rigidly excluded from the water, both that which is taken from the spring and that which is bottled.”

The spring itself was enclosed by granite and covered with plate glass. Every bottle and cork was sterilized before being filled.

“In these days of adulteration and hurry to get things on to the market, it is refreshing to a scientific man to observe all this pains-taking,” the inspector wrote.

By 1967, the bottling plant was closed as business waned. A new facility eventually was built at the base of Ricker Hill in the woods off Route 122. Advertisement

Water is now drawn from 10 springs in various communities, including Poland, and from springs in Hollis, Fryeburg, Dallas Plantation and Kingfield. The company is now a subsidiary of BlueTriton Brands, formerly Nestle Waters North America. Nestle acquired the company in 1992 when it took over Perrier (which bought the water company in 1980) and revived the brand.

THE RICKER LEGEND

More than 200 years ago, Jabez Ricker acquired the future Poland Spring Water property in a land swap with the Shakers in 1794. He opened an inn for travelers and farmed the land.

According to a website dedicated to Poland Spring history, innkeeping began with an overnight stagecoach stop.

The Poland Spring House as shown in 1876. It eventually comprised over 350 guest rooms, a barber shop, dance and photography studios, pool room, music hall, bowling alley, dining facilities, fire sprinkler system and elevators, serving as the crown jewel of the resort grounds. Courtesy Poland Spring Preservation Society

“Guided by the Ricker family, the spot blossomed into an elaborate resort that would host European royalty, American presidents and the robber-baron industrialists and financiers of the Northeast,” according to “The Historic Poland Spring.”

Many visitors came for the clean mountain air, he wrote. Others came for the bottled water. Advertisement

The salty entertainer Mae West became a spokeswoman for Poland Spring Water. A poster in the bottling museum quotes her as saying, “Is that a bottle of Poland Spring Water in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?”

Other photos show Babe Ruth on the golf course (the first to be built at an American resort and still open). Other visitors included Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Warren G. Harding and William Howard Taft; musician Rudy Vallee and the Prince of Prussia, to name a few.

But legend has it that none of this would have happened if Jabez Ricker’s descendent, Hiram Ricker (born in 1809), hadn’t been curious about where his cows were going.

Hiram took over the business in 1834. He noticed the cows were going into the woods often, and one day he followed them, according to legend. He found a spring bubbling up from bedrock. He began to drink the water and found that it cured his dyspepsia (acid reflux).

He claimed that the minerals in the water had medicinal properties and began to sell it in clay jugs for 5 cents a gallon to friends and neighbors.

This was in 1845, the date you see on modern bottles of Poland Spring Water Advertisement

According to the “Poland Bicentennial, 1795-1995”:

The original showers at the Poland Spring bottling plant are preserved in the museum. Workers were required to shower at the start of each shift to maintain the cleanliness standards the company set. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

“Water was first dipped by a two quart dipper directly from the 5-6 quart basin made in the rock. In 1827, the basin was enlarged to 30 gallons and a pail was substituted for the dipper. In 1876, a 30′ x 60′ house was built and set so the water ran directly into the barrel. In 1885, a large stone tank 4′ high x 4′ wide x 14′ long, with a large solid piece of highly polished granite for the front was built. This held 2,000 gallons.”

Commercial sales began in 1859. In 1860, a Portland doctor began to prescribe Poland Mineral Spring Water to patients.

Jackson Hall, 6, plays with the interactive bottling exhibit in mid-August at the Poland Spring Bottling Museum in Poland Spring. The museum recently added a children’s area. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

In an advertisement for Poland Mineral Water, Hiram Ricker claimed many health benefits from drinking his water: “Cures Dyspepsia. Cures Liver Complaint of long standing. Cures Kidney Complaint. Cures Gravel (kidney stones). Drives out all Humors and Purifies the blood.”

He challenged people to find the proof by visiting the spring and drinking the water.

Word soon spread throughout Maine of the water’s “incredible taste,” according to the society’s website. It became available throughout the Northeast by the bottle or the barrel. Advertisement

Demand continued to grow. The Ricker family built a bottling facility. It was the “largest and best-equipped” bottling plant in the nation.

But the Depression, economic downturns and other factors contributed to a slow decline of the business starting in the 1930, according to Harris. The Rickers eventually lost control of the business, with several business consortiums owning the property until the ’60s.

The aging Poland Spring House closed in 1965 and was left to deteriorate until 1972 when it was renovated by new operator Mel Robbins.

Mel and his wife, Cyndi, bought the resort from Feldman in 1982 and today Cyndi continues to own and operate the resort, with guests staying in the Presidential Inn, built by the Rickers in 1912 and then called the Riccar Inn, as well as in several more recent lodging options.

But the “grand old hotel” burned to the ground in July 1975. Smoke from the blaze of the 350-room Poland Spring House could be seen as far away as Portland, Printup said. The cause of the fire was never determined.

Let’s not blame it on the ghost of Hiram Ricker, though people claim to have seen his apparition walking the hallways of the current resort buildings. Footsteps have been heard and objects have been moved, according to Haunted Places . Advertisement

Chantal Durocher measures herself in mid-August against a stream gauge, used to measure how deep water is in a stream, much to the delight of her grandchildren. The family was visiting from New York State. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

A former housekeeper wrote on the Haunted Places website in 2018 that pictures came off the walls and were left face down on the floor or on beds in empty rooms of the resort’s inns.

“Yes, it’s haunted,” she wrote.

“There was also vacant rooms that would look like someone slept in them. We would have to pick up after the ghost, lol.”

She added that some rooms felt “very, very heavy like (you) knew someone else was in them.”

Printup has heard “a lot” of ghost stories, she said.

She said contractors who were restoring the bottling plant heard whistling in the otherwise empty building. Others say they’ve seen a boy in an old-time newsboy hat sitting on the front steps.

Perhaps this is why Brian Harris wrote in “The Historic Poland Spring” that the bottling museum possesses “haunting memories of a bygone era.”

And the water is just a drop in the bucket.

Related Headlines

A Poland Spring Water timeline

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Poland Spring Bottling Plant and Spring House

Source: Magicpiano

Copyright: Creative Commons 3.0

Places of interest » United States » Poland Spring Bottling Plant and Spring House

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The Poland Spring Bottling Plant and Spring House is an historic water pumping and treatment facility in Poland, Maine. Built in 1907, these two buildings are the original spring house and water spa of the Poland Spring Resort, whose waters are stilled bottled under the Poland Spring brand name. The resort was the largest and most successful of Maine's inland summer resorts. The buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984; the spring house now houses the Poland Spring Museum and Environmental Education Center. Open seasonally, its exhibits feature the history of the company and its bottling operation, including scientific displays and vintage memorabilia. The Poland Spring Bottling Plant and Spring House stand at the end of Preservation Way, behind the modern Poland Spring Inn and Resort, on the east side of Maine Street in South Poland. The former bottling plant is a rectangular building, with a hip roof that has overhanging bracketed eaves. It is dominated by a tall square tower at its southwest corner with an open top level whose openings are flanked by Tuscan columns. The tower is topped by a tiled shallow-slope pyramidal roof. Its base is of rusticated stone, with arched openings leading to the building entrance. The building windows are set in round-arch openings, and the corners have brick quoining. The building is shaped as a cross, with a copper dome at the center, and there is a secondary entrance sheltered by a copper hood. The bottling house is a smaller structure located just south of the spring house, its entrance featuring Tuscan columns and pilasters supporting an entablature.

Source: Wikipedia.org

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Poland spring museum and environmental education center, poland spring bottling plant.

• Location: Poland Maine Regional Essays: Maine Androscoggin County Architect: Harry C. Wilkinson Types: bottling plants museums (buildings) Styles: Renaissance Revival Materials: primary wood granite (rock)

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John F. Bauman, " Poland Spring Museum and Environmental Education Center ", [ Poland , Maine ], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/ME-01-001-0061 . Last accessed: April 28, 2024.

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The Poland Springs Bottling Plant celebrates the rich history of what was once a major American spa. As early as 1797 Jabez Ricks founded a hostelry at the springs and later claimed that drinking the water saved him from a serious illness. In 1876 Hiram Ricker, Jabez’s grandson, opened the Poland Spring House, a “watering place” or spa, acclaimed for its health-giving environment. While the grand hotel burned in 1975, the bottling plant, designed and built in 1907, remains and still operates.

In 1903 Hiram Ricker’s son, Edward P. Ricker, wrote to architect Harry C. Wilkinson, a native of Poland, Maine, to solicit a design for his proposed bottling plant. Wilkinson had apprenticed in Lewiston, Maine, before moving to Washington, D.C., where he became a draftsman in the Office of the Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury. The plans Wilkinson submitted were seemingly extravagant considering the utilitarian purpose of the facility. The European roots of often luxurious spas may have motivated the plant’s design. Rectangular in plan, the tower rising over the plant is reminiscent of the towers rising over the Tuscan town of San Gimignano. The one-story brick plant has round-arched windows and features a hipped roof with wide overhanging eaves supported by Italianate brackets. The tall Tuscan tower rises from the center of the southwest elevation. Built of rusticated brick, the shaft is unornamented except for the decorative medallions adorning all four sides. Atop the tower are openings in each elevation containing Tuscan columns in antis and shallow balconies.

The entrance to the spring house is located on the southeast facade. It, too, features Tuscan columns and pilasters supporting an entablature surmounted by a lunette set within a large round arch. On either side of the building is a round-arched window designed to provide plentiful daylight for visitors sampling the water. The privately owned building is now the Poland Spring Museum and Environmental Education Center and is opened seasonally.

Beard, Frank A., “Poland Spring House and Bottling Plant,” Androscoggin County, Maine. National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form, 1984. National Park Service. U.S. Department of Interior, Washington, D.C.

Poland Spring Preservation Society. “Poland Spring: History.” Accessed April 4, 2015. http://www.polandspringps.org/ .

Writing Credits

• Location: Poland, Maine Regional Overviews: Androscoggin County Architect: Harry C. Wilkinson Types: bottling plants museums (buildings) Styles: Renaissance Revival Materials: primary wood granite (rock)

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A Message to Our Community

With deep compassion and a commitment to our beloved state, we are proud to share that we have donated $500,000 to the LA Metro Chamber of Commerce Foundation to establish the Small Business Relief Fund in support of small businesses in the Lewiston Auburn region that are experiencing financial loss following the tragic events that unfolded on October 25th. In collaboration with the Chamber, we stand by our community and are deeply honored to support our neighbors in recovering, reconnecting, and reviving.

You can contribute to the Small Business Relief Fund .

Poland Spring® Brand 100% Natural Spring Water

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We would like to alert the public of a scam asking consumers to wrap a Poland Spring® advertisement around their vehicle in return for financial compensation. We do not have any promotion that involves this type of marketing activity.

Say Hello to Patty Spring

With a deep love of water, Patty Spring is here to tell the world not all water is the same. Sourced from natural springs in Maine since 1845, Poland Spring is crisp, refreshing and downright delicious, just like nature intended.

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Find out more about how our natural spring water is sourced.

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The Poland Spring® team is traveling around the Northeast sampling at different events. See past events here!

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Poland Spring Preservation Park

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Description

The trail network provides year-round recreation through wooded gently sloping terrain. Highlights include some of the historic buildings, including the Maine State Building and All Souls Chapel. Trails are groomed for cross-country skiing in the winter.

Maple Trail  (easy) : Easy walk winding through pine trees and sugar maples on a path between the Maine State Building and the Poland Spring Museum.

Amelia's Trail   (moderate) : This is a short trail along an old carriage road that connects between Montague’s Trail and Griffin’s Trail

Griffin's Trail   (moderate) : This trail connects Montague’s Trail to the southern portion of Poland Spring’s property. Griffin’s Trail follows old logging roads and winds its way through mature hardwood stands with some steep grades.

Montague's Trail   (moderate) : This trail begins at the cart path near the Poland Spring Museum and travels through the hardwood forest along the Poland Spring Resort Golf Course and makes its way to a flat wooded area along the shore of Lower Range Pond.

Stone Trail  (moderate) : This trail begins at the Parking area across from the Poland Spring Museum. It runs southerly parallel to Preservation Way near the top of what used to be a ski area. Although moderate this trail does have some steep grades.

Oscar's Trail  (moderate) : This trail begins at the top of the old ski area and follows old logging roads along side portions of the old ski lift. This trail does include some steep sections along with gradual inclines.

Oscar's Folly   (difficult) : This trail loops back onto Oscar’s Trail. This is a short but very steep and rocky trail that follows an old logging road. Rocks on this trail are large and frequent. Use caution.

Other Information

The trails and property are maintained in collaboration between Poland Springs, Poland Spring Preservation Society, and Poland Spring Resort.

To help maintain the beauty of this natural area and make your visit more enjoyable, please observe the following:

• No motorized vehicles
• Dogs must be on a leash at all times
• Please pick up after pets
• Trail hours: dawn to dusk
• Stay on designated trails
• Leave wildflowers, trees and shrubbery for others to enjoy
• Please do not feed any wildlife
• Carry out what you carry in

In winter, snowshoers and hikers, please stay to either side of trail. Do not walk in groomed tracks.

Trail Manager

Visit  Poland Springs ,  Poland Spring Preservation Society , and  Poland Spring Resort  online f or more information or contact:

Current Weather

Nearby events, trailhead information.

From the south:  Take I-95/Maine Turnpike Exit 63 in Gray. Turn right and follow the signs to ME Route 26 North. Stay on ME Route 26 north. The Poland Spring Preservation Park will be on your right in approximately 10 miles (about 0.8 miles past the intersection with ME Route 122). Look for and follow signs for Poland Spring Resort.

From the north:  Take I-95/Maine Turnpike Exit 75 in Auburn. Take a right to follow US Route 202/ME Routes 4 and 100 south. In about a mile, take another right to follow ME Route 122 to its intersection with ME Route 26. Take a right to head north on ME Route 26 and look for the Preservation Park/Poland Spring Resort signs on the right.

When you reach Poland Spring Resort grounds there are signs leading you to the top of the hill. Please park in the designated parking near the All Souls Chapel.

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UNCHARTED WATERS

Inside Poland Spring’s Hidden Attack on Water Rules It Didn’t Like

When Maine lawmakers tried to tighten regulations on large-scale access to water, the brand’s little-known parent company set out to rewrite the rules.

By Hiroko Tabuchi Oct. 24, 2023

Hiroko Tabuchi reported from Maine with photographer Tristan Spinski to reveal a behind-the-scenes effort to undercut groundwater protections.

The fifth story in a series on the causes and consequences of disappearing water. Oct. 24, 2023

When Maine lawmakers tried to rein in large-scale access to the state’s freshwater this year, the effort initially gained momentum. The state had just emerged from drought, and many Mainers were sympathetic to protecting their snow-fed lakes and streams.

Then a Wall Street-backed giant called BlueTriton stepped in.

BlueTriton isn’t a household name, but its products are. Americans today buy more bottled water than any other packaged drink, and BlueTriton owns many of the nation’s biggest brands, including Poland Spring, which is named after a natural spring in Maine that is no longer commercially viable.

Maine’s bill threatened BlueTriton’s access to the groundwater it bottles and sells. The legislation had already gotten a majority vote on the committee and was headed toward the full Legislature, when a lobbyist for BlueTriton proposed an amendment that would gut the entire bill.

“Strike everything,” starts the proposed amendment, which was written in a Word document that contained a digital signature showing that it had been created by Elizabeth M. Frazier, who represents BlueTriton and is one of the most influential lobbyists in Maine. The document was emailed by Ms. Frazier to lawmakers in the days after the committee vote.

The BlueTriton bottling plant in Poland Spring, Maine, this month.

After BlueTriton’s intervention, the committee pulled the bill back. The company’s actions, which haven’t previously been reported, were described to The New York Times by three state legislators. The Times also reviewed several of the emails sent by Ms. Frazier as well as the Word document.

“We couldn’t believe it. Their amendment strikes the entire bill,” said Christopher Kessler, a Democratic state representative who represents South Portland and a committee member who voted to advance the bill. “Because all this happened behind closed doors, the public doesn’t know that Poland Spring stalled the process.”

His panel, the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology, plans to meet on Wednesday to discuss the fate of the bill.

Bottlers have faced increasing scrutiny for the millions of throwaway plastic bottles they produce, the marketing message that their products are safer or healthier than tap water, and for a business model in which they buy freshwater, often at low cost, only to sell it back to the public at much higher prices.

And while the bottled-water business doesn’t use nearly as much groundwater as the nation’s thirstiest industries, like agriculture, the pressure on bottlers is building as awareness grows of the stress that intensive pumping can place on local water supplies. A Times investigation this year revealed that many of the aquifers that supply 90 percent of the nation’s water systems are being severely depleted as overuse and global warming transform fragile ecosystems.

BlueTriton has been caught up in issues of local opposition and water use, and not only in Maine. The company also is fighting for access to water sources in numerous states, including Michigan, Colorado and others.

In response to detailed questions, BlueTriton on Monday pointed The Times to a new page on its corporate website. “After thoughtful consideration, BlueTriton opposes the proposed legislation,” the page says, because the bill “would make it unaffordable for any large-scale water purchaser, including Poland Spring, to invest in infrastructure and operations.”

Ms. Frazier didn’t respond to detailed questions.

Groundwater use is regulated by states, not the federal government, which means there is little national coordination, monitoring or management of a vital natural resource. Maine’s bill seeks, among other things, to put a seven-year limit on contracts for large-scale freshwater pumping by corporations that ship water out of Maine, and to make the deals subject to local approval. That would block BlueTriton’s current efforts to lock in contracts up to 45 years long for pumping water.

Industries and other interest groups routinely try to influence lawmaking, and there has been no suggestion that Ms. Frazier violated any rules. But it seemed “unusual procedurally” for a corporation to propose rewriting an entire bill after it had already advanced within the Legislature, said Anthony Moffa, associate professor at the University of Maine School of Law.

State senator Mark Lawrence, a Democrat who heads the committee considering the bill, said the committee would consider amendments proposed by any interested person or party. In Maine, “ a lot of the legislation that’s proposed is written by lobbyists, companies, different people like that,” he said.

Mr. Lawrence also said that, at the same time the amendment was proposed, several members had begun to express fresh concerns that the State Legislature would be setting overly stringent curbs on contracts.

Water Clashes Nationwide

BlueTriton finds itself pitted against local water boards, environmentalists and other groups across the country.

In Colorado, environmental groups have been battling a 10-year contract that BlueTriton renewed with a semi-arid county to pump water from the Upper Arkansas River Basin, a region affected by historic drought.

Where water gets bottled

More than 10,000 bottling facilities draw from groundwater, streams and municipal supplies across the United States.

Water bottling facility

BlueTriton facility

Sources: U.S. Geological Survey; Continental U.S. aquifer map data from GebreEgziabher, Jasechko and Perrone, Nature Communications (2022)

Mira Rojanasakul/The New York Times

In California, BlueTriton has publicly criticized and vowed to fight a cease-and-desist order issued by the state’s water board to stop diverting millions of gallons of water from a spring in San Bernardino County.

In Michigan, lawmakers have proposed legislation that would close a loophole that enables BlueTriton and other commercial water users to pump water from the protected Great Lakes watershed. Known as the “bottled-water loophole,” it allows for water to be used this way if it’s in containers that are 5.7 gallons or less.

On its new corporate page, BlueTriton said “there is no evidence of adverse impacts to the aquifer” in Colorado, and that California’s ruling “negatively impacts every water agency and farmer in California that relies on groundwater, and in doing so, indirectly harms every Californian.”

BlueTriton is a major presence in Maine, drawing water from eight locations around the state. It is currently trying to lock in a new contract of up to 45 years to pump water in Lincoln, a former mill town.

Water trucks filling up at a Poland Spring facility in Lincoln, Maine.

That would be BlueTriton’s second decades-long contract in the state, the kind of deals that would run afoul of the State Legislature’s proposed seven-year cap. The company’s pursuit of these deals, and the uncertainties of how climate change may affect Maine’s water supplies in the future, is what inspired the legislation, said Margaret M. O’Neil, the Democratic state legislator who introduced the bill.

“We’re seeing our communities get locked into these contracts that are going to last, basically, the rest of my lifetime,” which is too risky, she said, considering climate uncertainties.

In Lincoln, BlueTriton said, the local water district had the right to reduce or suspend sales to Poland Spring to ensure service to customers.

In 2016-17 and in 2020-22, Maine experienced significant drought, followed by wet years. The state has also started seeing what scientists call “snow drought”: As winters warm because of climate change, snowpack and groundwater recharge can dwindle.

John Mullaney, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s New England Water Science Center, said that a warming climate meant Maine was likely to experience more variability, with stronger rains but also worsening drought. “The question is, what will we be able to do in 50 years,” he said. “There might be changes that need to be made, including reducing groundwater extraction.”

Industry groups emphasize that Maine still has ample groundwater and that bottled water accounts for only a small portion of its use compared to practices like irrigation. They also stress bottled water’s value in emergencies when drinking water is disrupted.

And in Maine, BlueTriton has a powerful local ally: local water utilities, which say the revenue generated by selling water to bottlers helps keep costs down for everyone else.

“Turning away a customer that’s seeking to pay money to the utility because of an alleged problem with extraction would be contrary” to ratepayers’ interests, said Roger Crouse, who was elected this month to the board of the Maine Water Utilities Association. “If they have a contract that could be expiring in seven years, and the math doesn’t work out, they’re going to have to invest their money somewhere else.”

Still, hydrologists warn that bottled water should not be discounted as an additional strain on aquifers and watersheds, as well as on residential wells. Last month, the United States Geological Survey began its first-ever study of how the activities of the bottled water industry result in changes to groundwater levels, spring flows and water quality. “Withdrawals, no matter what the use, influence movement of groundwater,” Cheryl Dieter, a hydrologist who is leading the study, said in an interview.

The Rise of BlueTriton

BlueTriton is only the latest steward of a brand that dates back more than 150 years.

Poland Spring water was first packaged as a local elixir in the mid-1800s. It bubbled from the ground, and was bottled by the proprietors of a Maine inn.

Today, it embodies a different era.

The original spring is no longer commercially viable and is now encased behind glass in a mausoleum-like structure tucked behind a golf course. But BlueTriton now pumps freshwater from other locations in Maine, the bulk of it shipped out of the state under the Poland Spring label. New York is a major market.

The original Poland Spring water source.

BlueTriton itself is a creation of Wall Street. It is owned by the private equity funds One Rock Capital Partners and Metropoulos & Co., which paid $4.3 billion in 2021 to buy Nestlé’s North American bottled-water business.

Metropoulos grabbed national attention in 2013 when it acquired Hostess, the struggling maker of Twinkies . It turned around the popular sponge cake and sold the company a few years later for a gain of more than $2 billion after slashing costs and jobs.

Private equity firms often look for such deals, involving undervalued or distressed businesses that they can buy using borrowed money and then turn around. The purchase of Nestlé’s bottled-water businesses had some of these elements.

Nestlé said at the time that it was selling because of increasing competition from lower-cost rivals, as well as environmental concerns such as difficulty reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Companies like Nestlé also faced risks to their reputation because of all the plastic waste created by disposable water bottles, which often don’t get recycled .

The company’s private equity roots have raised concerns. In March, the credit rating company Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the BlueTriton’s debt rating, citing its high debt load.

Near BlueTriton’s Poland Spring pumping site.

If and when BlueTriton is sold off by its investors, the county’s water could end up being controlled by “a revolving door of owners,” said John McGowan, a sustainable investing adviser in Chaffee County, Colorado, and member of a group that has been advocating for stricter curbs on the company, which pumps groundwater there.

In Maine, some neighbors of BlueTriton, like Natalie DiPentino, are skeptical of the company for more personal reasons .

Ms. DiPentino, who lives near Lincoln, can’t prove it but wonders if pumping by Poland Spring contributed to a crisis in her home during a drought in 2017, when her well ran dry along with those of several neighbors. Her family had to haul buckets of river water to flush the toilet, she said. Stores nearby ran out of bottled water.

After learning about BlueTriton’s proposed 45-year contract at its Lincoln facility, she led calls for a public hearing, arguing that deals were being cut behind closed doors and that Poland Spring would be paying too little, $15,000 a month, for millions of gallons of water. “You don’t know how badly you need water until you don’t have it in your house,” she said.

The hearing she sought is now scheduled for next month.

Uncharted Waters

A series on the causes and consequences of disappearing water.

America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There’s No Tomorrow

Big Farms and Flawless Fries Are Gulping Water in the Land of 10,000 Lakes

A Colorado City Has Been Battling for Decades to Use Its Own Water

‘Monster Fracks’ Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier.

A Tangle of Rules to Protect America’s Water Is Falling Short

As Groundwater Dwindles, Powerful Players Block Change

Airlines Race Toward a Future of Powering Their Jets With Corn

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America’s Vulnerable Water Systems

The Sinking Town: In Arizona’s deeply conservative La Paz County, the most urgent issue facing many voters is not inflation or illegal immigration. It is the water being pumped  from under their feet.

Paying the Price: Siemens and other corporations vowed to fix water woes in Mississippi and save cities across the state millions. The deals racked up debt instead , leaving many worse off than before.

A Tax on Groundwater: While American farmers elsewhere can freely pump the water beneath their land, growers in California’s Pajaro Valley pay hefty fees. Experts say the approach is a case study in how to save a vital resource .

A Diet Feeding a Crisis: America’s dietary shift toward far more chicken and cheese in recent decades has taken a major toll on underground water supplies .

First Come, First Served?: As the world warms, California is re-examining claims to its water that are  based on a cherished frontier principle and have gone unchallenged for generations.

Jets Powered by Corn: America’s airlines want to replace jet fuel with ethanol to fight global warming. That would require lots of corn, and lots of water .

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Where Your Bottled Water Comes From

The Mayo Clinic recommends drinking about two liters of water a day to flush our bodily systems and replenish lost fluids. As our bodies are composed of approximately 60 percent water, we should be keen to follow its advice. When we're at home, we reach for the tap or the Brita pitcher in the fridge. But on the road, many of us duck into the nearest convenience store and grab a bottle of chilled agua . Usually, we select the cheapest brand; however, sometimes, that glamorous cylindrical or -- gasp! -- square-bottomed bottle catches our eye. We then wonder: Is this how water tastes on that tropical island? Before you know it, you're out the door with a bottle that cost you many pretty pennies.

Whether it's our discerning cosmopolitan tastes, wanderlust or simple on-the-go thirst, we've started buying domestic and imported H2O bottles in bulk. Supplying data to the International Bottled Water Association , the Beverage Marketing Corporation reports that, on average, each American consumed 16.7 gallons of bottled water in 2000. In just 10 years, that number jumped to 27.6 gallons. This 65-percent increase in consumption meant an approximately $4.7 billion in additional revenue for producers. And the U.S. isn't even one of the top three consumers. Per capita, Mexico, Italy and the United Arab Emirates -- three different countries on three different continents -- lead the consumer pack in this multi-billion dollar, international business.

Since bottled water now arrives from all over the world to sit on local shelves, we decided to investigate seven popular brands and find out A) where their water comes from, and B) how their water is purified, if at all. This year, the investigative non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) has found that nine of the 10 top-selling brands fail to disclose this information on their labels. Organizations like EWG urge producers to imitate their product and aim for transparency. Yet, more than half of the 173 brands reviewed by EWG failed their water transparency test.

So, sit back, grab some water and take a quick tour of your favorite bottled brands.

[See a photo recap of Where Your Bottled Water Comes From ]

The Ricker family started selling water in 1859. Since then, the Poland Spring company has been integral in growing western Maine's tourism industry by promoting the health benefits of its spring water and the relaxing wilderness setting of its mineral spring. The main bottling facility is now in Hollis, Maine, but it's not worth visiting: Public tours of the plant ceased after Sept. 11 because it is an emergency water provider for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But you can visit the natural Poland Spring, from which the water derives its name, just 45 minutes north of Portland, Maine by car. Here, annual precipitation filters through the soil and replenishes the spring. Pipelines and trucks transport the spring water to the bottling plant, where it endures micro-filtration, ultraviolet light disinfection, even ozone disinfection before being bottled and further inspected.

This complex operation relies on the production of the spring. Therefore, the company runs the Poland Spring Preservation Society and Park, where you'll find the natural spring and the original bottling facility, now a museum that showcases the brand's heritage. The company even employs Jason Libby, who oversees a team of educators that gives tours and teaches visitors about Poland Spring -- the company and the natural resource. Also on the premises are four miles of hiking and cross-country skiing trails, which are open to the public. And nearby, the Poland Spring Resort welcomes guests with a golf course, grass tennis courts and wallet-friendly prices. To learn more about Poland Spring, check out the company's website .

Spouting the slogan "Live Young," Evian ads emphasize the drinking experience over its water's taste. According to Preetam Rao, a senior brand manager for the company, "At Evian, we really focus on how it makes you feel and the resulting mindset." Hence, we get the " Roller Babies " YouTube video, the culmination of the dancing babies phenomenon. But beneath its proliferating advertisements, Evian is a bottled water producer with a unique source and back-story. In the French Alps, rain and melting snow filters through glacial sand and clay for more than 15 years before reaching Evian's aquifer. The water then surges upward, emerging from the Cachat Spring in the town of vian-Les-Bains. The company taps the aquifer and funnels water directly into bottles without touching or altering it in anyway.

Already a glamorous resort town in its own right, Évian-Les-Bains draws thousands of luxury travelers that seek the mythical rejuvenating powers of the Cachat Spring. The Alps and Lake Geneva provide a stunning backdrop to Evian's source. Visitors can tour the bottling plant, which is a 30-minute bus ride from the city center. You can also splurge and stay at the Évian Royal Resort and pamper yourself at the Les Thermes Evian spa. For more information concerning the town and the water source, check out Evian's website .

Florida is renowned for its gorgeous, rejuvenating beaches, so why not get your water from a place with such relaxed vibes? Zephyrhills hopes you'll think just that. Based in central Florida, the brand takes pride in its state of origin, and rightly so, as its product derives from Crystal Springs, which is fueled by the Floridian Aquifer -- a massive water source deep below the state. The water gushes from a crack in the limestone bedrock, supplying Crystal Springs with 40 million gallons of H20 a day. A 3.5-mile pipe directs about one to two percent of the surging water to the bottling plant in Zephyrhills, Fla. There the freshly arrived fluid is filtered, purified and tested before reaching the army of plastic bottles. The plant reports that the contents on each of its 10 production lines are examined 200 times a day by laboratory workers and microbiologists. The final step is filling the bottles, which 10 spinning machines do at the rate of about 1,300 bottles per minute. It's an incredible operation.

Unfortunately, you can't see the mechanized bottling process in person, but you can venture to Crystal Springs, Fla. In the 1960s, swimmers and sunbathers used the area as a popular watering hole and nearly devastated the natural surroundings. Fortunately, this natural water source became a nature preserve that has since recovered. Now, the pools are populated with varieties of fish. Human traffic is limited to group tours led by Karen Pate, a local expert, who details this verdant, thriving ecosystem. To arrange a trip, check out the Crystal Springs Preserve website .

You immediately recognize the bottle -- that square, light-blue container with four elongated white letters on its side. Coming from the honeymoon hot spot, Fiji Water is one of the most identifiable bottled water brands on the planet. The precious liquid inside the container derives from an artesian aquifer in the isolated Yaqara Valley of Viti Levu, the largest of the Fiji islands. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA , defines "artesian water" as "water from a well tapping a confined aquifer in which the water level stands at some height above the top of the aquifer." What that means is that the water you find on the shelf is completely untouched and unchanged. Each bottle's contents contain tiny amounts of silica, fluoride, and bicarbonate that are acquired while filtering through an ancient volcanic rock that surrounds the aquifer; it's these minerals that give the water its distinctly smooth taste.

Although the bottling facility directly above the aquifer is closed to the public, the lush Fijian scenery is just as refreshing as the water. We suggest zip-lining over the island's rainforest canopy; a thrill for many adventurers. But if you prefer to have your feet on the ground, Koroyanitu National Heritage Park offers dramatic hiking trails. And for peaceful relaxation, head to Natadola Beach with its soft white sand and soothing waves. For more information about Fiji Water, check out the company's website .

A product of the Coca-Cola Company, Dasani is one of the most popular brands of bottled water in America. But why exactly? The water in those blue vortex-like bottles actually comes from the local water supply near bottling plants across the country. According to the Coca Cola Company website , the factories filter and purify the water using "a state-of-the-art, multiple-barrier treatment system." Although the company admits that the treatment process might vary from plant to plant based on location and water quality, Coca-Cola regularly tests its product to assure consumers that Dasani water meets FDA specifications of "purified water."

Because the water comes from multiple sources, the best place to taste Dasani is your own home, which also encourages the brand's go-green message. A Coca-Cola spokesperson recently reminded us that the company's carbon footprint (and transportation costs) is reduced because bottling facilities around the country distribute the product. At the forefront of the company's eco-friendly focus, the new PlantBottle, according to the Dasani website , is made from up to 30 percent plant-based material and is 100 percent recyclable. But if you are feeling less green and still interested in learning more about Dasani, Atlanta -- home to the World of Coca-Cola and company headquarters -- is the best place to "witness" its origins.

Many people (ourselves included) are stunned to learn that Perrier's fizz is au naturale . That's right: Perrier water emerges from the ground already bubbly, without any help from the bottlers. When Perrier first started bottling the effervescent water in the early 20th century, the company took the liquid straight from a spring called Les Bouillens (or "The Bubbles") in Vergèze, France. Carbon dioxide bubbles are released from volcanic gases deep underground and caught in the upward-moving water stream, which fuels the spring. However, to keep up with demand, the carbonic gas and the water are now extracted separately at different depths. The gas is purified and then reintroduced to the water at the precise carbonation levels of the spring. The result is the tasty sparkling water that fills those iconic green bottles, which are also manufactured in Vergèze.

Originally the site of a Roman spa resort, Vergèze is a charming, petite town; however, there is little see or do there aside from tour the spring. You must make reservations for tours, which include admission to Harmsworth House, a chateau and museum. But good news: You can reach Vergèze in less than 45 minutes from Montpellier, which has many attractions like the Chateau de Flaugergues. For more information about the water and touring Les Bouillens , check out Perrier's website .

Legend has it that San Pellegrino mineral water received two thumbs up from Leonardo di Vinci in 1509. And with that blessing, it's no wonder this stuff is bottled up and sweetly savored. San Pellegrino mineral water originates from three Italian springs fueled by an aquifer 1,300 feet below the surface. Filtering down through approximately 2,200 feet of earth in the Dolomite Mountain range, rain water and snow take more than 30 years to reach the aquifer. The limestone and volcanic rock that surround the subterranean basin provide a unique combination of minerals that subtly flavor the emerging liquid. Naturally occurring carbon dioxide -- taken from the same springs but at a greater depth than that of the water -- is bubbled back through the liquid. From there, the now-fizzy fluid is bottled in lime-green glass and slapped with a sky-blue label that provides a detailed mineral analysis.

For centuries, the town where this takes place, San Pellegrino Terme, has been a tiny resort destination. Although the bottling plant doesn't offer tours, you can still find evidence of just how important the springs have been to this town by visiting its historical buildings. See the grand San Pellegrino Water Hall -- a palatial tasting area with marble basins and colorful frescos. The town is also nearby Bergamo and Milan , two cities with many historic attractions. For more information about San Pellegrino Terme and its famed mineral water, check out the town's website and the company's website .

[ Photos of Where Your Bottled Water Comes From ]

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Booking Now for 2024 & 2025

Since the 1790’s, Poland Spring has been the center of activities in Southern Maine. Whether planning a family reunion, golf outing, business event, conference location, college reunion, weddings, or a gathering with friends, we can help! Poland Spring offers many options for making your day, weekend or midweek visit exceptional. We offer rooms, meals, entertainment and loads of indoor and outdoor activities.

We have designed a no hassle, moderately priced, all-inclusive wedding packages that includes almost everything you could desire in the most beautiful setting in Maine.

Relax in the Stress Free Zone and Enjoy!

We do all types of other events with flexible spaces … choose the Maine Inn, our 40′ x 80′ Tent or the Poland Spring Bottling Museum. Please reach out to Jenn at [email protected] or arrange for a tour by calling Jenn at 207-998-4351.

• Maine Inn – Room Fee $800 – maximum capacity 160 seated Limited availability
• Poland Spring Bottling Museum – Room Fee $800 – maximum capacity 80 seated
• Tent Fee – $1000 – maximum capacity 200 seated

Our tent comes with lighting, tables, white padded chairs, white linen, plates, silverware, two portable toilets, tent sides, and a paved floor. We obviously can not predict the weather and take no responsibility for Mother’s natures antics.

Grab and Go – no room charge or set up fee. All charges are plus 8% food and beverage sales tax.

For more details, dates available, and complimentary tour, please call Jenn Fogg (207) 998-4351 ext. 102 or e-mail [email protected]

Polandd Spring Bottling Museum

Poland Spring Tent Venue

Poland Spring Resort

640 Maine Street Poland, Maine 04274 (207) 998-4351 [email protected]

Poland Spring Water

Ask a lot of people in the Northeast and they might think that Poland Spring Water is available all over the country. Although it is primarily distributed in the region, it once was marketed globally with offices in Cairo, Manila, London, Paris, Chicago, Boston and elsewhere. But – it all started with distribution in Poland, Auburn-Lewiston and Portland Maine.

Hiram Ricker had suffered from dyspepsia for much of his adult life. In 1844 while in the fields below the Mansion House, he began to drink freely form the spring on the hillside. After a few days, his ailments subsided and he believed that the mineral spring had curative powers. He then began sharing his spring water with neighbors and friends and the next year in 1845, he began selling it in the community. In 1859, as doctors began prescribing the water, Hiram made his first commercial sales of his water.

By the turn of the 20th century there were over 80 commercially sold spring waters in the state of Maine alone. In 1906-1907, an advanced and modern facility was constructed over the original spring and adjacent, to replace the wooden structure that housed the waterworks for decades. Designed by Harry C. Wilkinson, the building used modern materials like Carrera glass to ensure a clean and efficient bottling facility.

Used for seven decades, the buildings were replaced by a modern facility at the edge of the property and were left to their own devices. After years of neglect, the water company proceeded to invest over a million dollars in restoring the facility to their previous grandeur. Today, the buildings are open as a museum and as a conference and special events space.

Franklin County's First News

Kingfield’s Poland Spring plant awarded best in the nation

KINGFIELD – Poland Spring’s two-year-old water bottling factory received the 2010 Best Factory in North America award by its parent company Nestlé Waters North America.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins joined plant employees, managers, company executives and community leaders at an award ceremony and reception today to celebrate Poland Spring’s newest plant’s achievement as the best of Nestlé Waters plants in the U.S.

The plant, which started operations in January 2009 with 36 employees, has now nearly doubled its workforce to 70 workers and will begin operating around the clock, every day of the week, beginning next month, said the plant’s manager Cameron Lorrain. The factory has been operating up to 18 hours a day, five days a week and ships 50 truckloads out each day of operation, caring roughly 70,000 cases of water.

“This is the most productive of Nestlé’s 26 factories and it’s because we have the best team of the plants,” Lorrain said on a tour of the plant, “We came to Kingfield and found 70 of the best workers.” Collins said the award is especially significant since the Kingfield plant is the smallest and in the most rural area of Poland Spring’s bottling plants which means trucking for distribution in the Boston and New York markets is a longer trek. Despite this, she said, the plant has been awarded as being the best for its efficiency, safety record, environmental stewardship. In January, the plant received a gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The Kingfield plant is the first manufacturing facility in Maine to receive a LEED gold certification.

“Maine’s dedicated and skilled workforce is an asset to any company,” Collins said after the plant tour. She also said she was happy to hear that Maine companies were used in the construction of the plant as are suppliers, such as an Auburn company that produces recycled cardboard for shipping cases of bottles.

For Kingfield Selectman Mervin Wilson, it’s the unexpected benefits that the town has reaped since the plant opened that are a nice surprise. Having job opportunities are important as is the tax increment financing agreement for the town, but there’s more, he said. Through Poland Spring’s community funding program, the elementary sports teams this year are continuing to play and the free bus shuttle from Kingfield to Sugarloaf still runs because of the funding help. Also, unexpected was the excise tax benefits of having the plant’s fleet of trucks register in Kingfield.

To the employees who gathered to celebrate the award, Collins noted their achievement.

“It’s incredible that it happened in just over two years. This award belongs to all the employees who work here,” she said.

The work to bring the $60 million Poland Spring bottling facility investment here began years ago, said resident Jack McKee of Kingfield. McKee, Alison Hagerstrom, executive director of the Greater Franklin Development Corp., along with many others in Franklin County, had been advocates for the plant becoming a reality here. Today, they stood smiling like parents at their plant’s latest achievement.

“I am so proud. I am more proud than I ever thought I could be,” Hagerstrom said.

“It was seven years ago,” McKee said when the bottling plant coming here began as just a whisper. One of the plant’s employees, Amanda Kyes of Farmington, who was standing nearby said she had attended the University of Maine at Farmington and then got a job working at the Kingfield plant. “I want to thank you for a great job,” she said to McKee.

It is nice to see that they are continuing to strive. Glad to see the business up in Kingfield

Congratulations to the employees and management of Poland Spring. This is a well-deserved honor.

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