DOVER, Del., April 11, 2001 — Sharp Water, Inc., a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, announced today the acquisition of certain assets of Aquarius Systems, Inc., an EcoWater water conditioning and treatment dealership serving parts of southeastern Florida.
With this acquisition, Chesapeake makes its entrance into the water conditioning and treatment market in Florida.
Aquarius has two locations in Florida — Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie — that provide a broad range of water conditioning and treatment solutions to residential and commercial customers in these markets and surrounding areas. These solutions include the rental and purchase of softeners, drinking water systems, and other conditioning equipment, as well as the installation and maintenance of irrigation and sprinkler systems. Michael Edwards, the previous owner, will be continuing on after the transaction, primarily targeting the growth opportunities available to Aquarius in the commercial and new housing arenas.
"Aquarius gives us a foundation to offer our existing gas customers in Florida various water treatment and conditioning solutions. We now have a base of products, services and expertise in Florida to provide a broad menu of water services to both new and existing customers in existing service territories, as well as new markets," according to John R. Schimkaitis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Chesapeake.
With this latest investment, Chesapeake will add a fourth geographic territory to its water business. The addition of this dealership will also build upon EcoWater Systems and Chesapeake's joint initiative to grow the dealer business in non-traditional methods.
Chesapeake's three other dealerships include Sam Shannahan Well Co. dba Sharp Water (formerly Tolan Water Service) in Salisbury, MD; Douglas Water Conditioning in Detroit, MI; and Carroll Water Systems in Westminster, MD. As part of its diversified growth strategy, Chesapeake will continue to build its water operations primarily through the acquisition of successful dealerships and through the initiation of start-up operations.
Chesapeake Utilities Corporation is a diversified utility company engaged in natural gas distribution and transmission, propane distribution and marketing, advanced information services and other related businesses. Information about Chesapeake Utilities Corporation and the Chesapeake family of businesses is available online at www.chpk.com.
