The oldest company in Mecklenburg County is located in Huntersville. Since 1871, Midas Spring Water has been selling bottled water in the Charlotte metro area and beyond, and customers keep coming back for more.

Patrons drive from as far away as Statesville and parts of South Carolina to buy the mineral water. “We even have a customer who likes the taste so much that they have it shipped to Austin, Texas, regardless of the freight costs,” says Jeff Yopp, who is plant manager.

Another customer says of her 13-year-old son, “This is the only water that he will drink.”

Joe Liburdi bought the 52-acre Midas Spring property, which backs up to Latta Plantation, with development in mind. Liburdi, who is originally from Italy and now lives in Toronto, travels the world in his business pursuits, and, in doing so, has become quite a connoisseur of bottled water. As a result, he decided to keep the spring. “I tried the water right out of the spring, and I fell in love with the taste,” he says. “Developing the land would have ruined the spring, so instead I bought the acreage, restored the old bottling plant and went into the bottled water business.”

He also owns Liburdi Diametrics in Davidson, which is a welding and turbine repair service. He comes down from Canada about once a month to check on his local ventures.

Liburdi is very hands-on with the Midas Spring business, designing his own label and bottle, and is pro-active in telling people that drinking pure mineral water has many health benefits.

“The FDA does not require bottlers to publish the composition of water on the label,” he says. “In contrast, the Midas label provides a full content analysis and nutrition facts. On our Web site you can find the content analysis of Midas water compared to popular American and European waters. I want to educate people on the water they drink.”

In many cases, bottled waters originate from a municipal water supply and are then treated by a purification process such as reverse osmosis or distillation, removing most of the mineral content. In contrast, the water obtained from Midas Spring has a naturally occurring balance of minerals such as calcium and magnesium.

Long history
Legend has it that Midas Spring was discovered by the Catawba Indians.

The spring eventually was purchased and formed as a business entity by John Williamson Sample, born in 1840, and raised on Latta Plantation (then known as Riverside). He married Margaret Ida Williams and had six children. The youngest, Robert Midas Sample, went by the name Midas. His name came from his mother’s first initial, M, combined with her middle name, Ida, and the last letter in her maiden name, Williams. Margaret died soon after giving birth to Midas, and Midas died at the age of 1. John Sample then named the spring after his late wife and son.

After Liburdi acquired the spring more than 100 years later, he was advised to change the name of Midas Spring. But with so much history behind it, he chose to preserve it.

The modern business
Midas Spring Water is a small operation with five full-time employees and two part-timers. Warmer weather increases production needs, and temporary workers are brought in for the season. The bottling capacity is 1,200 cases per day, with machinery filling up to 90 bottles per minute. The water is bottled to order so it is as fresh as possible and does not sit in the warehouse for extended periods.

After purchasing Midas and outfitting the factory to his needs, Liburdi installed a carbonation system to manufacture sparkling spring water. This product is being readied for market and should be available soon.

A well house dating back to the 1920s contains the original spring and an old, glass-top catch basin. For sanitary reasons, a new well has been drilled right beside the original spring into the same aquifer, which is about 200 feet below the surface.

Jeff Yopp mentions how many steps Midas water goes through to ensure purity. “Our plant is FDA inspected, and we are a member of the IBWA (International Bottled Water Association),” he says. “We test our water quality on a daily basis, and we send samples to National Testing Labs weekly.”

In addition, National Testing Labs performs an elaborate test twice yearly to rule out the existence of certain chemicals in the water.

Midas Spring’s products are sold mainly in North Carolina and South Carolina. They are available locally in health food stores, such as at Earth Fare, Talley’s Green Grocery, Berrybrook Farms and Home Economist. The company also wholesales to customers who come in to buy water in four-gallon containers or 16.9-ounce single serving size bottles, with a business delivery program available, as well. There is a private-label aspect to the business, in which school systems, hospitals, golf courses and food distributors have their custom labels attached to Midas products.

“We are also getting ready to sell Midas water into China,” Liburdi says. “We are excited to take Midas to an international level.”

Dina Harkey, director of sales and marketing, has an interest in educating the public about what they are drinking, as well. “One of our goals is to work with more school systems, especially in elementary schools where sodas are no longer allowed,” she says. “Many state school systems are taking childhood obesity very seriously so they are really streamlining their menus.”

Harkey feels that not all bottled water is created equal. “If you are really health conscious, you will stop and read the label,” she says.

She says that many consumers simply buy water based on price and are not getting the best product. She laughs and mentions that “just because it is in a pretty bottle on the grocery store shelf doesn’t mean that it ‘holds water.’ ”