DeBenedictis Marks 20 Years at Aqua America

Nicholas DeBenedictis has been CEO of Aqua for two decades.

Aqua America Reports Record Earnings in Second Quarter

Aqua reported an 11.2% increase over the same time period last year.

Bryn Mawr CEOs Are 'Bargains', Report Says

Two CEOs from Bryn Mawr businesses made the cut.

The Philadelphia Business Journal recently ranked the area's top-100 earning CEOs based on the bargain they provided company shareholders in 2011. The criteria used included whether the company's stock price increased, whether the company made more in 2011 than in the previous year and whether the CEO's total compensation was lower than the company's earnings. Only 24 of the top 100 CEOs met those criteria. To see which executive topped the list, read the full article in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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Aqua America Increases Investment in Pennsylvania

Aqua is also increasing its investments in New Jersey and Ohio.

  Special thanks to Aqua America for providing this release. Aqua America, Inc. (NYSE: WTR) Chairman and CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis detailed Aqua’s sustainability initiatives with respect to its growing water-energy nexus at the Citi Global Water and Renewables Investment Conference held Wednesday in New York City.  In late 2011, certain Aqua America and Penn Virginia operating subsidiaries entered into a joint venture to form Aqua—PVR Water Services, LLC to construct and operate a private pipeline system to supply fresh water to certain natural gas producers drilling in the Marcellus Shale in north-central Pennsylvania. The 18-mile steel pipeline, which cost $24 million, began servicing drillers in North-Central Pennsylvania on an as-…

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Video: Activists Protest Fracking at Aqua Headquarters

“Housing is a human right, water is a human right, no evictions for fracking," read pamphlets activists passed out.

A number of activists protested fracking outside Aqua America headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, highlighting the human impact of the recent acquisition by an Aqua subsidiary of a mobile-home village in Piatt Township. Read Bryn Mawr-Gladwyne Patch's story about Wednesday's protest here.

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Zach Subar

2:58 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012

I think this issue will continue to become more significant as fracking becomes more of a reality for more people.   more ›

Clean Water Activists Protest Fracking by Aqua

The anti-fracking statement was sparked by the purchase of a mobile-home park by an Aqua subsidiary.

A group of concerned citizens gathered outside Aqua America’s headquarters Wednesday afternoon to draw attention to 32 low-income families facing the threat of being displaced from their homes in the Riverdale Mobile Home Village in Piatt Township.  Former park owner Richard A. "Skip" Leonard told residents he sold the 37-unit park to Aqua PVR LLC, a subsidiary of Bryn Mawr-based Aqua America, according to the Williamstown Sun-Gazette. Aqua plans to build a water-withdrawal facility there to be used by the natural gas industry for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Aqua has offered residents $2,500 to relocate—a price deemed far too low by those present at Wednesday’s press conference.  “Tell arrogant Aqua no fracking evictions,” read …

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Liz Rosenbaum

9:21 am on Friday, April 20, 2012

Water is life, and right now Aqua America seems to own our water. Maybe not every public utility ought to be so thoroughly privatized? Aqua’s plan is to drain this aquifer precisely when it’s in most dire need of recharging, much the same way they have drained the life out of this small community.   more ›

Aqua PA Buys Mifflin Township Water Authority

The acquisition was announced Monday.

Aqua America announced on Monday Aqua Pennsylvania's purchase of the Mifflin Township Water Authority for $1.114 million. The newly-acquired water authority serves about 1,500 customers in Mifflin Township, Columbia County, according to a release. Aqua PA will enter an agreement with the state Department of Environmental Protection that will address corrective actions and leak detection to reduce unaccounted-for water, following an agreement of the same nature between the Mifflin Township Water Authority and the state DEP, the release states. Such improvements may include "the replacement of aged and undersized mains and water service lines, as well as some fire hydrants, and upgrades to the treatment facilities," according to the release…

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Aqua PA, Union Workers Agree on New Contract

Negotiations had been ongoing since November 2011.

Aqua Pennsylvania and 32BJ SEIU, the union that represents nearly 300 Aqua employees, came to a contract agreement announced Tuesday. The new contract, which the union said includes wage increases, healthcare and other job protections, will expire Sept. 30, 2013, according to a 32BJ SEIU press release. “The men and women who work hard to keep our water running have protected family-sustaining jobs,” 32BJ SEIU Mid-Atlantic District Director Wayne MacManiman wrote in a press release Tuesday. “Helping workers better support their families and communities is a critical step towards our economic recovery.” Contract negotiations had been going on since November, MacManiman said at a picketing event in January. Workers picketed in front of the W…

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Aqua Hosts Summit Meeting For Delco Veterans Memorial

Delaware County Veterans Memorial Associate holds summit and seeks continuing community and corporate support.

BRYN MAWR–On Feb. 21, Delaware County Veterans Memorial Association (DCVMA) Chairman Nick DeBenedictis of Aqua America, Inc., along with Delaware County Councilman Mario Civera and Rep. Nick Miccarelli (R-162), co-hosted an invitation-only summit meeting for local CEOs, representatives from various charitable organizations, educators, and political and community leaders. The event took place at Aqua’s headquarters in Bryn Mawr. Also in attendance were DCVMA President Guy Fizzano, who served in the US Army and is co-owner of Fizzano Brothers Concrete Products, the memorial’s founding member Linda Houldin, and land donor and contributor Claude de Botton.   The guests joined together to learn about what will be one of the country’s most …

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Aqua PA Union Workers Picket on Lancaster Avenue

Employees say they haven't been offered a fair contract.

A group of more than 100 Aqua Pennsylvania union workers marched from Polo Field in Bryn Mawr to the Aqua America headquarters on Lancaster Avenue late Saturday morning to express their anger at what they say are unfair contracts. "Does Aqua PA, whose parent company recorded almost $124 million in profit last year, really need to increase the rates of hard working customers like you?" reads a flyer union workers were handing out to passersby. "Aqua PA seems to think so!" Members of 32BJ SEIU, in purple union T-shirts, marched together westbound on Lancaster Avenue/Route 30 from Penn Street to Aqua America headquarters at 762 W. Lancaster Ave. shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday. The large group marched in both lanes, backing up traffic. Once at…

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