Springs is an old mining town. Until the 1960s, coal and gold mining dominated the local economy. This fact would have a major impact on the future of the town and pose certain health challenges that’d require modern technology to resolve.

The township of Springs is named after the many natural fountains that were found in the area by the early gold explorers. Here, aquifers or natural underground water bodies are in abundant supply, which means water is plentiful. The problem however, wasn’t with the quantity but the quality of water. The reason for the poor quality of water lay in the industrial past of the place.