Aquarion makes another buy

Bridgeport-based Aquarion Water Co. has continued its trend of buying small water companies in the area with its most recent purchase Brookfield Water Co.

“We are no sleepy water company,” said Bruce Silverstone, Aquarion”™s vice president of corporate communications. “We are moving aggressively toward expansion. We”™ve now purchased 40 water companies, which have added 10,000 customers.”

Brookfield Water Co. was founded in 1998 by Robert Parker, after he was invited by the state Department of Environmental Protection to provide a clean water supply for customers with contaminated wells.

Charles Firlotte, CEO of Aquarion, said the deal allows Aquarion to address water-quality problems in the Brookfield market and continue the company strategy of building access to an abundant supply of water.

The recent acquisition, which adds about 200 customers to Aquarion”™s portfolio, comes only a few weeks after the company bought similarly sized Bethel-based Rural Water Co. and Black Systems of Brookfield.

The financial details of the transactions were not disclosed.

As the largest investor-owned water utility company in New England, Aquarion serves about 580,000 people in the state, with about 2,000 customers in Brookfield due to the recent purchases. Aquarion has customers in towns in Connecticut, as well as Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Last month the prime in-state competitor of Aquarion, Clinton-based water utility Connecticut Water Co., bought Madison”™s Green Springs Water Co., adding 90 customers to its roster of more than 300,000 customers.

Silverstone said Aquarion would continue to make purchases of small water companies in the region.