Aqua America buys waster assets in Ohio and North Carolina

US-based water utility firm Aqua America has completed acquisition of water system assets in Ohio and North Carolina through its subsidiaries.

Assets from Lake Mohawk and Lake Tomahawk water utilities have been purchased by Aqua Ohio for $1.76m.The two utilities supply water to around 3,100 residents in north-eastern parts of the US state.

Aqua Ohio will directly operate the systems at Lake Mohawk. Being close to the firm’s existing centres, the new Ohio communities will offer the advantage of economies of scale for their operations.

The firm’s unit in North Carolina has bought assets from the Honeycutt Water systems for $75,000, which serves approximately 260 people across Glennburn, Knollwood and Wimbledon developments in Gaston County.

Aqua North Carolina will operate its new acquisitions in the state from its western regional office in Denver. It currently supports water requirements of more than 250,000 people across 51 counties in the state.

The new deals bring the total number of acquisitions for the firm to 16 in 2014. Earlier in the year, the firm had also purchased assets across the US states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, Texas and Virginia.

Aqua America chairman Nicholas DeBenedictis said: "Our purchase of the former Ohio American Water properties in May 2012 added more than 150,000 people to Aqua’s service territory, making us the largest private water system in the state.

"Having successfully integrated those operations into our Aqua Ohio company, we are now fulfilling our goal to continue to grow the company in Ohio, our second-largest state operation."

Aqua Resources, a non-regulated subsidiary of Aqua America, had also bought two water and wastewater companies in 2014. The two acquisitions are expected to generate combined annual revenue of $12.5m in 2015, the firm said.