WIGGINS, Miss. (WLOX) – For one family in Wiggins, coastal life revolves around water and drinking from a fresh spring here in South Mississippi.

“Inda Bay Spring Water is a natural spring water that has quenched the thirst of locals for thousands of years,” said Tracey Batson. “In total, 3,800 gallons per minute flow and trickle out of this hill. It flows into Red Creek, Pascagoula and then into the Gulf.”

About a year ago, Tracey Batson and her husband Shep Batson started bottling the spring water.

“It’s as pure as it can be if you just taste it and try it,” Batson said. “We don’t do anything to it, God made it that way, we just put it in a bottle. Our motto is: Let our heritage quench our thirst.”

Shep Batson’s ancestors first discovered the spring in the early 1800s, settled the land around it and named it Inda Bay. Eight generations later, the family still lives on the property a few miles outside of Wiggins.

Now, a decades-old dream is becoming a reality at the bottling plant run by Shep, Tracey and two other employees. They plan to bottle 2.5 million bottles of water this year.

“It’s completely untouched by humans, it doesn’t even get exposed to air, it comes from the ground, into our facility, into the bottle and is sealed,” Batson said. “We don’t do anything to it, it goes through multiple filters, it’s protected against bacteria as the state requires, and that’s all.”

The Batsons measure their water against everyone else.

“To give you an idea, the premium water you have access to contains 10 to 15 times more contaminants than Inda Bay,” Batson said.

The water is bottled in recyclable bottles, which are also manufactured at the Stone County plant.

In addition to selling the water in local stores, the Batsons also partner with businesses and offer unique packaging labels like the one you find at Island View Casino.

What they sell is a vital product and they plan to do everything they can to bring Wiggins’ Inda Bay Water to the world.

“Access to natural spring water is a trend that is not going out of fashion, but is becoming more and more valuable. It is simply one of those that you have to try and once you have tried it you will understand that it is a very clear, pure and delicious water.”

You can find the water in area stores, including Rouse’s. Batson said the water is distributed by Mitchell Distributing and is available wherever Anheuser-Busch products are sold in South Mississippi.

If you can’t find it in your store, you can ask for it, check the website for more information.

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