Aqua America Completes Eight Acquisitions During First Quarter

April 11, 2005
Aqua America Completes Eight Acquisitions During First Quarter BRYN MAWR, Pa., Apr 11, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Aqua America, Inc. (NYSE:WTR) announced today that it completed eight acquisitions in five states the first quarter of 2005. The first quarter growth comes on the heels of Aqua America's 29 acquisitions in 2004.

"We continued to seize growth opportunities during the quarter in many of our states, which helped fuel added momentum for our growth-through-acquisition strategy," said Aqua America Chairman Nick DeBenedictis. "These 'tuck-in' acquisitions continue to add to our customer numbers and help fill in our national footprint in the many areas in which we do business. Further, we broke new ground in the non-regulated wastewater arena, purchasing two businesses that afford us the opportunity to provide additional services to another segment of the wastewater industry."

The most recent acquisitions were completed by the company's non-regulated subsidiary, Aqua Wastewater Management, Inc., which purchased Concord Wastewater Services, Inc. and Golden Mechanical, Inc. of Delaware County, Pa. These acquisitions represent Aqua America's first venture into this specialized area of the wastewater business and has enabled the company to provide "in-house" sludge hauling and collection system maintenance services for its own wastewater treatment facilities in southeastern Pennsylvania as well as for it O&M wastewater clients.

Aqua America completed the following purchases in the first quarter of 2005:

1. January 2005 - Aqua Texas, Inc. purchased the water system at the Saddlewood Estates development in Kerrville, Texas that currently serves 200 residents, and will serve an additional 250 residents upon the development's completion.

2. January 2005 - Aqua New Jersey, Inc. purchased the water and wastewater system assets of Bear Brook Village which currently serves more than 130 water and wastewater residents, plus a golf course, in Fredon Township, Sussex County. The system has the potential to serve 120 more residents upon the development's completion.

3. January 2005 - Aqua Ohio, Inc. purchased the Norlick Place water system, which serves 345 residents in Center Township, Williams County.

4. February 2005 - Aqua New Jersey, Inc. recently purchased the water and wastewater system assets of Hanover Village which serves approximately 300 residents in North Hanover Township, Burlington County.

5. February 2005 - Aqua Missouri, Inc. purchased the water system assets of LTA Water Company, which serves nearly 300 residents in Branson, Taney County.

6. February 2005 - Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc. purchased the Stanton water system which serves approximately 425 customers in South Abington Township, Lackawanna County.

7. March 2005 - Aqua Wastewater Management, Inc. purchased the assets of Concord Wastewater Services, Inc. in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

8. March 2005 - Aqua Wastewater Management, Inc. purchased the assets of Golden Mechanical, Inc. in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

Aqua America, Inc. is the largest U.S.-based publicly-traded water utility, serving more than 2.5 million residents in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, Maine, Missouri, New York, and South Carolina. Aqua America is listed on both the New York and Philadelphia Stock Exchanges 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, the Company's growth-through-acquisition strategy, the earnings potential from acquisitions and the potential for additional customer growth from acquired operations. 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 filings with the Securities and Exchange Commissions.

SOURCE: Aqua America, Inc.

Aqua America, Inc.
Cheryl Hansen
610-645-1084
clhansen@aquaamerica.com
or
Donna Alston
610-645-1095
dpalston@aquaamerica.com