Each December, Water Technology^® identifies water treatment dealerships that deserve special recognition for their performance and presence in the industry, based on information received by the magazine earlier in the year for our ranking of “Industry Leaders” (July issue). Congratulations this year to Atlas Watersystems, Newton, MA, and Spectrum Water Coolers, Jessup, MD.


Atlas Watersystems, Inc.
Atlas Watersystems, Inc., based in Newton, MA, has had a strong year, says company President Norm Marowitz, and it’s poised for continued growth through 2008 and beyond.

Marowitz, who most recently served as the company’s chief operating officer (COO), joined Atlas Watersystems in 1997. The company was founded in 1987 by Simon O’Leary, who now serves as CEO. Cindyann Mealey, who has 12 years experience with the 76-employee company, recently was named COO.

According to Marowitz, the new titles reflect new roles for the company’s management team and an increased focus on company expansion. He and O’Leary now are spending more time developing relationships inside the New England region it currently serves and throughout the Northeast. Mealey now oversees inside operations for the company’s four operating groups: Commercial Drinking Water, Residential, High-Purity and Food Service.

According to Marowitz, the company is projecting total annual revenues for 2007 at $9 million, a 12.5 percent increase over its 2006 reported revenues of $8 million, says Marowitz.

The company’s success can be attributed to its customer-focused staff, including licensed plumbers who follow plumbing code, well-trained technicians, “an excellent sales staff” and customer service personnel, says Marowitz, noting that innovative design and installation capabilities are key.

Customer retention also is important. He attributes the company’s continued growth to a “culmination of years of building relationships with companies that send us work and like what we do.”

All four operating groups have had a good year, says Marowitz. “The residential market since the end of May has been very, very busy,” says Marowitz, noting that the growth in that division was at first surprising because of sluggish regional housing starts. The more stringent US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) radon and arsenic standards have contributed to growth in this segment, he says.

The Commercial Drinking Water Systems group has been “extremely busy,” says Marowitz, noting that his company has a number of contracts to replace bottled water with central purification systems feeding POU coolers at many state and town offices.

The High-Purity group has been doing well, with contracts for biotech companies and manufacturers in the solar energy industry, he says.

In addition to continuing to service Starbucks coffee shops, the Food Service group is working as a regional service provider throughout Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont for 3M CUNO, which has national accounts for its dual-filtration systems in restaurants like Subway sandwich shops, Barnes & Noble Cafés, Boston Market and Hess convenience stores. Atlas Watersystems serves as troubleshooter and handles all other problem water issues.

The Newton-based Atlas Watersystems team is preparing for a move to a 15,000-square-foot office and warehouse facility in Waltham, MA, in February 2008 to accommodate expansion. The company will retain its Littleton and Middleton, MA, offices.


Spectrum Water Coolers, Inc.
Jeff Doughty, founder and CEO of Spectrum Water Coolers, Inc., headquartered in Jessup, MD, considers his company one of the longest-standing POU water cooler companies in the United States, having just begun its 19th year in October.

“We’re growing extremely rapidly and picking up speed,” he adds.

According to Doughty, the company’s projected 2007 annual reported revenues are $11 million, compared with its 2006 annual reported revenues of $4 million.

Doughty attributes about half of that increased revenue to a significant contract agreement Spectrum Water Coolers signed in 2006 that he believes is “the largest POU cooler contract in the history of the industry.” Spectrum Water Coolers this year will complete installation of 6,500 POU cooler machines for a national company that wishes to remain unnamed, he says, and another 500 in 2008.

To accommodate increased business and growth in general — Spectrum Water Coolers had clients in 43 states in January and now its reach extends into all states except Montana — the company has increased its staff to 52 employees, says Doughty, noting that the company also has clients in several large Canadian metropolitan areas.

“We have a lot of large projects in the works. We’ve executed a bunch of good-sized national accounts … and [there are] more on the way,” according to Doughty.

As Spectrum expands, Doughty says one thing has stayed the same: the consistency in its technical staff. “One of the things that we’re most proud of is that in over 10 years, in our service department, we have had zero turnover. … The growth is nice, the headcount increase is nice and it’s impressive, but the lack of turnover I’m more proud of than the increased hiring,” he says.

With its positive company culture and attention to service, Spectrum Water Coolers is prepared to again double in headcount and revenues in 2008, adds Doughty.