Aqua America Announces a Seven Percent Cash Dividend Increase Payable December 1, 2009

Aqua America’s (NYSE:WTR) Board of Directors today declared a 7.4 percent dividend increase of $0.01 per share from $0.135 per share to $0.145 per share for the December 1, 2009 quarterly dividend, to all shareholders of record on November 16, 2009. This increase is equivalent to $0.04 above its current annualized dividend rate of $0.54 to $0.58.

The Board also declared the regular $0.135 per share quarterly common stock cash dividend to be paid on September 1, 2009 to shareholders of record on August 17, 2009. Aqua has paid a consecutive quarterly dividend for more than 60 years.

This is the eleventh consecutive year in which the company has increased its dividend above its stated 5 percent target and the nineteenth increase in 18 years. Aqua America Chairman and CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis said, "The Board approved this action after reviewing the company’s five-year business plan. This decision evidences the Board’s continued confidence in our long-term growth business model despite the current state of the economy.”

Aqua America, Inc. is a publicly traded water and wastewater utility with operating subsidiaries serving approximately three million people in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, Maine, Missouri, and South Carolina. Aqua America is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol WTR.

This release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, among others, reference to the company’s long-term growth business model. 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, unfavorable weather conditions, the success of certain cost containment initiatives, changes in regulations or regulatory treatment, availability and the cost of capital, the success of growth initiatives, 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.

WTRF