A leader on water-recycling frontier

LIFE AQUATIC: Water-recycling firm AquasGroup services a variety of companies, including jewelry manufacturers, toolmakers and marinas. Pictured above are Rob Sheldon, left, vice president of sales and marketing, and Nicholas Paolo Jr., company president. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
LIFE AQUATIC: Water-recycling firm AquasGroup services a variety of companies, including jewelry manufacturers, toolmakers and marinas. Pictured above are Rob Sheldon, left, vice president of sales and marketing, and Nicholas Paolo Jr., company president. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

Jet-engine and handgun makers wash equipment parts during the manufacturing process. Purifying that rinse water by recycling it can improve that process while protecting the environment, according to the owner of a company with just such expertise.
Working with more than 100 customers, AquasGroup is an applications engineering company that applies best-available technology in integrated systems for industrial-process water treatment and recycling, says AquasGroup co-owner Rob Sheldon.
The firm sells its products and service contracts to companies like Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, Conn., and Smith & Wesson in Springfield, Mass., recycling industrial wastewater instead of discharging it to public sewers, he said.
“Recycling is a frontier business, so the products we [offer] are all aimed at providing manufacturers recycling options that in some cases did not [previously] exist,” Sheldon said. “We invent the way we apply something: the methods. Our technology keeps the water pure and then we service the systems as needed.”
The washing of jet-engine and gun parts is an example of one of the three recycling products AquasGroup supplies: the Green Factory Series Systems, which provide manufacturers with improved process control while minimizing waste through zero liquid discharge.
“Our systems are applied on rinse water to maintain purity while sending no water to drain,” Sheldon explained.
Other products include the Clean Marina Series, which either pretreats, recycles or collects and disposes of power-washing wastewater; and Oasis, which uses EverRinse, another recycling tool that doesn’t require a drain.
Of the eight people on staff, four fabricate plastic into tanks, consoles and integrated systems. An engineering manager also does some fabrication. Making chemically resistant plastic for metal-finishing applications is another important type of work the company’s employees handle, Sheldon said.
Over the years, the heightened awareness concerning public health and safety have made companies like AquasGroup important to manufacturers, Sheldon said.
“Our recycling systems protect manufacturers from potential environmental liability through the elimination of any discharge of processed water from their facilities,” he said. The company also designs and builds custom chemical-process equipment, which includes specialty cleaning machines and laboratory-sized, metal-finishing systems for manufacturers in the aircraft engine and electronics industries. Pratt & Whitney Canada in Montreal and Kita USA in Attleboro are both clients, Sheldon said.
Sheldon and President Nick Paolo purchased the business from the previous owner in 2009. Originally named Environmental Control Systems and located in Smithfield, the company’s home today is a 12,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in East Providence.
Branding began after that transfer of ownership, Sheldon said.
With more than 100 customers, AquasGroup also serves the jewelry-manufacturing industry, including Tiffany & Co. in Cumberland and Tanury Industries in Lincoln, as well as such marinas as Ram Point Marina Inc. in South Kingstown and Ocean House Marina in Charlestown, and medical- tools manufacturers like DePuy Spine Inc. of Raynham.
The detail-oriented, technical nature of the business can be a challenge, Sheldon said, as is the fact that industrial-wastewater recycling is an immature market, so opportunities can be hard to identify. And although the technologies used are the “best available” today, they remain limited in their effectiveness, he said.
Combining ongoing service contracts with hourly rates ranging from $70 and $150 an hour with recycling systems that cost anywhere from $5,000 to $300,000 gives the company flexibility when the market for its products is slow, he added.
The future of the water-treatment industry is bright, if challenged by its complexity, Sheldon said.
“The technologies applied today will evolve and become more capable over time,” he said. “Water is very finite, very precious. There will be a lot of development, but it’ll be slow going because it’s just not easy to find cost-effective, innovative methods.
“Water purification fits well with the Ocean State as a concept,” he said. “The state is going to begin to work to make it more attractive for manufacturers to survive.” •COMPANY PROFILE
AquasGroup
OWNERS: Rob Sheldon and Nick Paolo
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Design-build manufacturer of industrial wastewater treatment and recycling systems
LOCATION: 830 Waterman Ave., East Providence
EMPLOYEES: 8
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1986
ANNUAL SALES: $2 million

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