Aquachem Inc

Aqua-Chem’s position of world leadership in water technologies began in 1929 when entrepreneur-engineer John Cleaver joined forces with businessman Raymond Brooks to provide the industry’s first “packaged” boiler system. Gone were the days buying separate components and assembling a system one piece at a time.

In 1943, the US Government commissioned Aqua-Chem to design and build a mobile distillation unit for military troops in the Pacific. The still converted seawater and brackish well water into 1000 gallons of purified drinking water per day. While this was an impressive rate for the time, the still’s mobility is what made it unique.

In 1951, Aqua-Chem designed and produced a seawater desalinating system for the Army. This project formalized the 'package' concept of water purification systems in which all the necessary components were engineered and assembled into one system, including pumps, valves, steam compressors and plate evaporators, as well as filter components. The system could be fully operable merely by making electrical and piping connections.

In the 1960s, Aqua-Chem developed a factory assembled, packaged Spray-Film® vapor compression technology. This technology is capable of producing the purity levels needed by the most demanding applications. Today, Spray-Film® vapor compression is a cornerstone of the Company's products sold to the offshore, pharmaceutical/biotech and bottled water markets.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Company received many patents for desalination and its numerous applications. In part, this was the result of intensive federal government investment in development of water treatment technologies. Over the next decades, government research lessened and industry practices developed in less visible, more proprietary ways, through expertise and practicality in design and fabrication techniques.

In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Aqua-Chem became the product developer and prime production contract supplier to the U.S. government for transportable water purification systems for military use, and later also for civilian emergency use. These systems were known as Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units (ROWPUs) and delivered 3,000 gallons of water per hour in field use.

In the late 1990s, the Company teamed with a third party to develop a 1,500 gallon per hour Tactical Water Purification System (“1500 TWPS”), a new mobile water purification system for the US Military.

In 2000, Aqua-Chem purchased from Osmonics the Vaponics brand product lines of stills and steam generators, to enhance and expand the Company’s service to pharmaceutical/biotech industry customers.

Since 2001, Aqua-Chem has launched more than two dozen new products, including increasingly large vapor compression systems, reverse-osmosis water purifiers, pretreatment and sanitary process distribution systems, waste heat plate type evaporators, vacuum vapor compression units and titanium and copper-nickel heat exchangers.

The Company continues to develop and introduce innovative products and applications to support its customers’ needs.

HISTORY

Aqua-Chem’s position of world leadership in water technologies began in 1929 when entrepreneur-engineer John Cleaver joined forces with businessman Raymond Brooks to provide the industry’s first “packaged” boiler system. Gone were the days buying separate components and assembling a system one piece at a time.

In 1943, the US Government commissioned Aqua-Chem to design and build a mobile distillation unit for military troops in the Pacific. The still converted seawater and brackish well water into 1000 gallons of purified drinking water per day. While this was an impressive rate for the time, the still’s mobility is what made it unique.

In 1951, Aqua-Chem designed and produced a seawater desalinating system for the Army. This project formalized the 'package' concept of water purification systems in which all the necessary components were engineered and assembled into one system, including pumps, valves, steam compressors and plate evaporators, as well as filter components. The system could be fully operable merely by making electrical and piping connections.

In the 1960s, Aqua-Chem developed a factory assembled, packaged Spray-Film® vapor compression technology. This technology is capable of producing the purity levels needed by the most demanding applications. Today, Spray-Film® vapor compression is a cornerstone of the Company's products sold to the offshore, pharmaceutical/biotech and bottled water markets.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Company received many patents for desalination and its numerous applications. In part, this was the result of intensive federal government investment in development of water treatment technologies. Over the next decades, government research lessened and industry practices developed in less visible, more proprietary ways, through expertise and practicality in design and fabrication techniques.

In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Aqua-Chem became the product developer and prime production contract supplier to the U.S. government for transportable water purification systems for military use, and later also for civilian emergency use. These systems were known as Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units (ROWPUs) and delivered 3,000 gallons of water per hour in field use.

In the late 1990s, the Company teamed with a third party to develop a 1,500 gallon per hour Tactical Water Purification System (“1500 TWPS”), a new mobile water purification system for the US Military.

In 2000, Aqua-Chem purchased from Osmonics the Vaponics brand product lines of stills and steam generators, to enhance and expand the Company’s service to pharmaceutical/biotech industry customers.

Since 2001, Aqua-Chem has launched more than two dozen new products, including increasingly large vapor compression systems, reverse-osmosis water purifiers, pretreatment and sanitary process distribution systems, waste heat plate type evaporators, vacuum vapor compression units and titanium and copper-nickel heat exchangers.

The Company continues to develop and introduce innovative products and applications to support its customers’ needs.

Aqua-Chem provides solutions to your pure water needs. Our portfolio includes a full range of thermal and membrane water treatment technologies including vapor compression distillation, flash evaporation, reverse osmosis, membrane filtration and ion exchange. We ask questions to learn about your challenges and listen intently to understand your needs. From there, we develop recommendations specific to your industry, application and situation.

Whether you need pure water for biotech production or potable water on an offshore oil rig, we’ve been there. Our team will work with you to design and engineer solutions that meet your specifications. While we don’t specialize in any one industry (we specialize in the application of knowledge and processes from industry to industry), we have a strong track record in a range of industries and markets.

We will draw on our years of experience in a variety of industries to solve problems in ways you never expected. And we’ll be there for you down the road, with service and support for the life of your unit, including maintenance and parts.

From World War II to the present, we’ve made sure that deployed troops have safe drinking water. Whether it’s cholera in Rwanda or floods in the United States, Aqua-Chem has been there. We partner with customers in countries around the world to deliver quality water for consumption, healthcare and industrial processes.

We began in 1940 with the idea that industrial equipment and water treatment should be more efficient and more reliable. We’ve spent every day since then working to make that happen. And, in the process, we believe we’ve made the world a better place.