Aqua America, Inc. (NYSE:WTR) announced today that it has contracted
Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Company (Atlantic States) of
Phillipsburg, New Jersey to provide ductile iron pipe throughout the
year as they continue to replace aging main throughout its Northeast and
Midwest operations.
Under the one-year contract, Aqua America subsidiaries in Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri will purchase
ductile iron pipe from Atlantic States.
Regional President Karl Kyriss said he was very pleased with the
contract. "Atlantic States offered us competitive pricing that will
enable us to install more pipe than the prices of other companies that
bid on the contract,” said Kyriss. "We’re also pleased to be able to
conduct this level of business with a local company that operates in the
back yard of our New Jersey operation, employing people who live in that
region,” referring to the fact that Aqua New Jersey’s northern
operations are also located in Phillipsburg.
Kyriss said the bulk of the pipe will be installed in Pennsylvania where
Aqua Pennsylvania expects to install more than 528,000 feet of
replacement main.
Atlantic States’ Vice President and General Manager Mitchell Kidd said,
"While we’ve provided pipe to Aqua on a smaller scale in the past, we
are glad to have the opportunity to increase our business with them to
this level, which benefits our company and our employees,” said Kidd.
"We are very excited about this contract and the fact that private
utilities like Aqua America are proceeding with their capital programs,
despite the economy.”
Kyriss said Aqua America is in the enviable position of being able to
fund its capital programs despite the economy. "I’ve heard that in some
cases, municipal utilities are delaying their capital activity because
they are awaiting economic stimulus funds, which in some cases, have not
been released. At Aqua America, we have been able to use our strong
balance sheet to access the capital markets at reasonable rates so that
we can continue our capital investment, a large part of which is to
replace aging water mains.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Drinking Water
Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment estimates a 20-year capital
investment need of $334.8 billion for public water systems, including
water mains. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) report
titled Failing Infrastructure Cannot Support A Healthy Economy graded
the nation’s drinking water and wastewater systems a D- and estimated an
annual shortfall of at least $11 billion to replace aging facilities
that are near the end of their useful life and to comply with existing
and future federal water regulations.
Aqua America, Inc. is one of the largest U.S.-based publicly traded
water and wastewater utility holding companies, serving approximately 3
million residents in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, North Carolina,
Illinois, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, Maine,
Missouri, South Carolina and Georgia. Aqua America is listed on the New
York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol WTR.
WTRF
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, among
others: the amount and location of replacement pipe to be installed, the
Company’s ability to access capital markets at reasonable rates and the
Company’s capital investment program. There are important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements including: general economic
business conditions; availability and the cost of capital; and other
factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2008, which is on file with the SEC. We undertake no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement.
