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Monday, November 9, 2009

Water Stocks News - American Water Works (NYSE: AWK) Reports Third Quarter 2009 Results

Net Income of $91.6 million, or $0.52 per share Revenues increase by $7.8 million to $680.0 million, despite wet, cool summer Decreases in water sold results in estimated reduction of $0.14 per share $53.2 million in new tax-exempt bonds issued during the third quarter 2009 Cash flow from operations increase by almost $80 million to approximately $472 million for the nine months 2009 Stock price remains steady as RWE reduces ownership to 23.5 percent

VOORHEES, N.J.---American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK), the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company, today reported results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009. For the quarter, the company reported operating revenues of $680.0 million, a 1.2 percent increase of $7.8 million over the same period in 2008. Net income in the third quarter was $91.6 million, or $0.52 per basic and diluted common share, compared with $88.2 million or $0.55 per basic and diluted common share in the third quarter of 2008.

“The results of this quarter were impacted by one of the wetter summers experienced by much of the country,” said Don Correll, president and CEO of American Water. “Eleven out of 20 of our regulated state operations experienced either above average rainfall, cooler temperatures, or in most cases, both. Despite the weather, we achieved an increase in both revenues and net income as we continue to execute our core strategies.”

The company’s Regulated Businesses revenues increased by $17.6 million, or 2.9 percent, in the third quarter 2009, largely a result of recent recognition of prudent investment through rate awards. Total volume of water sold decreased 7.4 percent for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, or 9.1 billion gallons from the same period in 2008, largely as a result of weather. This decrease in volume of water sold resulted in an estimated decrease of $44.2 million in revenues and approximately $23.7 million in net income, or $0.14 per basic and diluted common share.

The company’s Non-regulated Businesses’ revenues decreased by $8.6 million or 11.7 percent for the third quarter, compared to the same period in 2008. The decrease was primarily attributable to lower revenues in the Contract Operations Group.

Operating expenses for the three-month period ended September 30, 2009, totaled $465.6 million, an increase of $5.1 million or 1.1 percent over the same period in 2008. This was primarily driven by increased pension and other post-employment benefits expenses of $6.4 million and depreciation of $6.5 million. These increases were offset by lower costs in contract operations of $9.4 million.

Net cash provided by operating activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2009, increased approximately $78.6 million or 20 percent to $471.6 million.

Construction expenditures for the nine months ended September 30, 2009, were $592.9 million compared to $714.6 million in the prior year period. The company anticipates investing approximately $800 million in construction and other capital projects in 2009.

“American Water is committed to delivering reliable service to its customers,” said Correll. “We are making infrastructure investments across this country and in fact, recently reached a significant milestone in our current largest capital project. Our 31-mile watermain and 20 million gallon a day treatment plant project in Kentucky is more than 70 percent complete. This approximately $162 million project will ensure a sustainable supply for Central Kentucky for years to come and is another example of our commitment to providing water solutions.”

During the three months ended September 30, 2009, capital resource requirements were met with internally generated cash, commercial paper issuance, debt offerings, and access to bank credit lines. The company issued $53.2 million in new tax-exempt bonds during the third quarter 2009 at rates ranging from 1.27 percent to 6.25 percent. Additionally, the company remarketed, at fixed rates, $23.3 million in tax-exempt bonds at 6.25 percent during the third quarter 2009.

The company received authorizations for additional annualized revenues from general rate cases of $16.8 million in the third quarter 2009, which brings the total for the first nine months of the year to $31.4 million. As of September 30, 2009, the company was awaiting final orders for general rate cases in 10 states, requesting $258.0 million in total additional annual revenues.

Subsequent to the quarter’s end, the company settled its rate case in Pennsylvania, which grants an increase of approximately $30.8 million in annual revenue in addition to the approximately $23.0 million previously received through infrastructure surcharges. The company also filed a rate request in Missouri, which will generate an additional $48.7 million in additional revenue if approved as filed.

The extent to which requested rate increases will be granted by the applicable regulatory agencies will vary.

American Water announced two major military contracts during the quarter. Its Military Services Group was awarded contracts for the operation and maintenance of the water and the wastewater systems at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and Fort Meade, Maryland.

"American Water was extremely pleased to be awarded both contracts,” said Correll. “We will now be serving ten installations across the country and our growing portfolio clearly demonstrates our commitment to providing military bases with solutions to best manage their systems and delivering reliable water and wastewater services.”

American Water also announced the completion of a secondary public offering of 40.25 million shares of its common stock, priced at $19.25 per share, on August 18. In the offering, all the shares were sold by RWE, with all proceeds going to RWE. RWE’s ownership has been reduced to 23.5 percent of American Water's outstanding shares of common stock.

Also during the third quarter, the Board of Directors increased American Water’s quarterly cash dividend payment by five percent from $0.20 to $0.21 per share on July 31, 2009. On October 30, the Board declared its second dividend of $0.21 per share.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes a presentation of “Net income excluding impairment charge,” “Basic income per common share excluding impairment charge," “Diluted net income per common share excluding impairment charge,” and “Operating expenses excluding impairment charge.” Each of these items is derived from our consolidated financial information but is not presented in our financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The items constitute “non-GAAP financial measures” under Securities and Exchange Commission rules. These non-GAAP financial measures supplement our GAAP disclosures and should not be considered an alternative to the GAAP measure.

Management believes that the presentation of these adjusted measures is useful to investors because it provides a means of evaluating the company’s operating performance without giving effect to an impairment charge, which has been triggered principally by market factors that are largely out of the control of management and do not reflect the day-to-day operations of the company. Moreover, management believes that this presentation facilitates comparisons between the company and other companies in its industry. In preparing operating plans, budgets and forecasts, and in assessing historical performance, management relies, in part, on trends in the company’s historical results, exclusive of impairment charges.

Set forth below are tables that reconcile the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

Third Quarter 2009 Earnings Conference Call

The third quarter 2009 earnings conference call will take place Monday, November 9, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Interested parties may listen over the Internet by logging on to the Investor Relations page of the company’s Web site at www.amwater.com.

Following the earnings conference call, an audio archive of the call will be available through November 16, 2009, by dialing 303-590-3030 303-590-3030 for U.S. and international callers. The access code for replay is 4173835. The online archive of the webcast will be available through December 8, 2009, by accessing the Investor Relations page of the company’s Web site located at www.amwater.com.

About American Water

Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs approximately 7,300 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to approximately 15 million people in 32 states and Ontario, Canada.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this release that are “forward-looking statements” are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors such as weather conditions, patterns or events, including drought or abnormally high rainfall, changes in general economic, business and financial market conditions, fluctuations in the value of benefit plan assets and liabilities that could increase our costs and funding requirements, changes in laws, governmental regulations and policies, including environmental, health and water quality and public utility regulations and policies, the decisions of governmental and regulatory bodies, including decisions to raise or lower rates, the timeliness of regulatory commissions’ actions concerning rates, migration into or out of our service territories, our ability to obtain permits for expansion projects, changes in customer demand for, and patterns of use of, water, such as may result from conservation efforts, the availability of adequate and cost-effective supplies of chemicals, electricity, fuel, water and other raw materials that are needed for our operations, our ability to successfully acquire and integrate water and wastewater systems that are complementary to our operations and the growth of our business, our ability to manage the expansion of our business, our ability to control operating expenses and to achieve efficiencies in our operations, access to sufficient capital on satisfactory terms, fluctuations in interest rates, restrictive covenants in or changes to the credit ratings on our current or future debt that could increase our financing costs or affect our ability to borrow, make payments on debt or pay dividends, changes in our credit rating, changes in capital requirements, the incurrence of impairment charges, difficulty in obtaining insurance at acceptable rates and on acceptable terms and conditions, ability to retain and attract qualified employees, cost overruns relating to improvements or the expansion of our operations, and civil disturbance or terrorist threats or acts or public apprehension about future disturbances or terrorist threats or acts.

For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with American Water’s business, please refer to American Water’s annual, quarterly and periodic SEC filings. The Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement.
Financial tables see news at www.amwater.com.





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Featured Water Stocks Showcase Company: Wescorp Energy Inc. (OTCBB: WSCE )

POINT ROBERTS, WA and DELTA, BC –November 9, 2009 www.Water-Stocks.com, an investor and industry portal for the water sector within Investorideas.com, launch the new water news feed for investors industry, Water Stocks News at Investorideas.com .

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Featured Water Stock Showcase Company: Wescorp Energy Inc. (OTCBB: WSCE )
Wescorp Energy Inc Showcase Profile Page
Wescorp Energy Inc. (OTCBB: WSCE) is an Oil and Gas solutions provider focused on deploying its water remediation and environmental technologies that overcome tough operational challenges facing oil and gas operators today on a global basis. Virtually anywhere in the world oil is produced contaminated water is produced, this includes associated formation water in conventional oil and gas production and potable water used in unconventional oil production such as the massive Oil Sands development in Alberta Canada.
Using conventional oil/water/solids separation technology, between 0.05% - 5% (500 ppm - 50,000 ppm) residual oil content remains in the water, Wescorp's patented, proven and highly scalable H2Omaxx microscopic aeration technology addresses this crisis by being able to increase the recovery of oil and reduce the amount of hydrocarbons in the contaminated water to less than 0.001% or 10 ppm. Wescorp's H2Omaxx is extremely economical and environmentally friendly eliminating the use of chemicals, filtration systems, high temperature systems and high pressure vessels.
Wescorp Energy Inc Company Website: http://www.wescorpenergy.com/

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Disclaimer: Our sites do not make recommendations. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. We attempt to research thoroughly, but we offer no guarantees as to the accuracy of information presented. All Information relating to featured companies is sourced from public documents and/ or the company and is not the opinion of our web sites. This site is currently compensated by featured showcase companies including Wescorp Energy (WSCE), news submissions and online advertising. Read our Compensation Disclosure and disclaimers.

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Sunday, November 8, 2009

Water Stocks News - Ocean Power Technologies (NASDAQ:OPTT)(LSE:OPT) Project Wins A $66.5m Award from Australian Federal Government

Water Stocks News - Ocean Power Technologies (NASDAQ:OPTT)(LSE:OPT) Project Wins A $66.5m Award from Australian Federal Government


PENNINGTON, N.J--Ocean Power Technologies (Australasia) Pty Ltd (“OPTA”), a subsidiary of Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTT)(LSE:OPT) is pleased to announce that, in partnership with Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd (“Leighton”), it has received a A$66.46 million grant from the Federal Government of Australia to build a 19 MW wave power project off the coast of Victoria, Australia.

The award is one of four renewable energy projects approved by the Federal Government after considering over 30 applications, and is the sole wave energy venture.

The Government funding will be used by OPTA and Leighton to advance the construction of a wave power station to be built in three phases off the coast of Victoria near the city of Portland, with a total expected capacity of 19 MW – sufficient to fulfill the energy needs of approximately 10,000 homes. The project is to be developed by a special purpose company, Victorian Wave Partners Pty Ltd, that was formed by OPTA and Leighton following the signing of an agreement (as announced December 19, 2008) to collaborate in pursuing wave power projects off the east and south coasts of Australia. It is expected that work will begin on the project by the second quarter of calendar year 2010.

Dr. George W. Taylor, founder and Executive Chairman of OPT, and Chief Executive of OPTA, said: “We are delighted to have received this vote of confidence from the Australian Federal Government, which has taken a bold step to spur adoption of renewables and wave energy in particular. Our Victoria, Australia project is expected to be one of the first utility-scale wave energy projects globally, and the latest example of OPT’s lead in turning wave energy technology into a commercial reality worldwide.” Taylor, who was born and educated in Australia, continued, “We are delighted to have this opportunity to use OPT’s PowerBuoy® technology in Australia.”

The award was announced by the Australian Resources & Energy Minister, Martin Ferguson, under the Renewable Energy Demonstration Program (REDP), which has awarded funding totaling A$235 million to four renewable energy projects, aimed at meeting the Government’s target of generating 20% of the country’s energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.

The grant is conditional on the signing of a Funding Deed stipulating the conditions for the grant, which includes funding milestones. Victorian Wave Partners will be required to seek additional funding to enable the completion of the 19 MW wave power station.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain "forward-looking statements" that are within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectations about its future plans and performance, including statements concerning the impact of marketing strategies, new product introductions and innovation, deliveries of product, sales, earnings and margins. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions and estimates which could be inaccurate and which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could vary materially from those anticipated or expressed in any forward-looking statement made by the Company. Please refer to the Company's most recent Form 10-K for a further discussion of these risks and uncertainties. The Company disclaims any obligation or intent to update the forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.

About Ocean Power Technologies

Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPTT and London Stock Exchange AIM: OPT) is a pioneer in wave-energy technology that harnesses ocean wave resources to generate reliable, clean and environmentally-beneficial electricity. OPT has a strong track record in the advancement of wave energy and participates in a $150 billion annual power generation equipment market. The Company's proprietary PowerBuoy® system is based on modular, ocean-going buoys that capture and convert predictable wave energy into low-cost, clean electricity. The Company is widely recognized as a leading developer of on-grid and autonomous wave-energy generation systems, benefiting from over a decade of in-ocean experience. OPT’s technology and systems are insured by Lloyds Underwriters of London. OPT is headquartered in Pennington, New Jersey with offices in Warwick, UK. More information can be found at http://www.oceanpowertechnologies.com/.

About Leighton Holdings Limited

Leighton Holdings Limited is the parent company of Australia’s largest project development and contracting group. Founded in Victoria in 1949, the organization has grown from a small, privately owned civil engineering firm into a dynamic group that includes Thiess, John Holland, Leighton Properties, Leighton Contractors, Leighton International and Leighton Asia. With 37,000 employees, the Group’s operations are throughout the Asia-Pacific region on projects in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Macau, India and the Gulf Region. Leighton Holdings is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX:LEI) and has its head office in Sydney. Leighton Contractors is committed to becoming a leader in the renewable energy sector and has been involved in a number of sustainable energy projects in recent years, including the design and construction of numerous wind farms, biofuel projects and clean power stations throughout Australia.





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Friday, November 6, 2009

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Monday, November 2, 2009

Water Stocks Sector Close – Up, Finding the Green in Water Stocks

Water Stocks Sector Close – Up, Finding the Green in Water Stocks

Featured Water Stocks Showcase Company: Wescorp Energy Inc. (OTCBB: WSCE )

POINT ROBERTS, WA and DELTA, BC –November 2, 2009 www.Water-Stocks.com, an investor and industry portal for the water sector within Investorideas.com, presents a sector close-up on publicly traded water stocks.
www.Water-Stocks.com, an investor portal within the InvestorIdeas.com content umbrella, offers water investors sector- close- ups, research tools, news, Blogs, online conferences, Podcasts , interviews and a directory of public companies within the water sector .The water-stocks content hub has created a global marketplace and meeting place for investors, public companies, industry buyers and sellers of water technology, services and water assets.

Investorideas.com and its water portal www.Water-Stocks.com will be expanding current water investing content with additional commentary and analysis from well- known industry experts.

Water Stocks Trading as of November 2, 2009
American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK) trading at $9.07, up $ 0.10 (0.53%) 2:33pm ET
Ameron International Corporation (NYSE: AMN) trading down at 58.25 -0.73 (-1.24%) 2:43pm ET
American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) trading down at 33.00 0.15 (0.45%) 2:36pm ET
Aqua America (NYSE: WTR) trading up at $15.55, up 0.10 (0.65%) 2:50pm ET
ITT Corporation (NYSE:ITT) trading down at $50.62 0.08 (0.16%) 2:52pm ET
Middlesex Water Company (NasdaqGS: MSEX) trading up at $ 15.46, up 0.07 (0.45%) 2:41pm ET
Pentair, Inc. (NYSE: PNR) trading up at $29.5, up 0.43 (1.48%) 2:54PM ET
Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: WTS ) trading at $28.51, up 0.26 (0.92)
Wescorp Energy Inc. (OTCBB: WSCE ) trading at $0.26 - 0.27days trading range.

Investors can research global water stocks at the Water Stocks Directory

The Investorideas.com Water Stocks Index - Published at www.investinwhoyouare.com
Index based on 9 water stocks from the global water stocks directory at www.Investorideas.com and www.water-stocks.com


Featured Water Stock Showcase Company: Wescorp Energy Inc. (OTCBB: WSCE )
Wescorp Energy Inc Showcase Profile Page
Wescorp Energy Inc. (OTCBB: WSCE) is an Oil and Gas solutions provider focused on deploying its water remediation and environmental technologies that overcome tough operational challenges facing oil and gas operators today on a global basis. Virtually anywhere in the world oil is produced contaminated water is produced, this includes associated formation water in conventional oil and gas production and potable water used in unconventional oil production such as the massive Oil Sands development in Alberta Canada.
Using conventional oil/water/solids separation technology, between 0.05% - 5% (500 ppm - 50,000 ppm) residual oil content remains in the water, Wescorp's patented, proven and highly scalable H2Omaxx microscopic aeration technology addresses this crisis by being able to increase the recovery of oil and reduce the amount of hydrocarbons in the contaminated water to less than 0.001% or 10 ppm. Wescorp's H2Omaxx is extremely economical and environmentally friendly eliminating the use of chemicals, filtration systems, high temperature systems and high pressure vessels.
Wescorp Energy Inc Company Website: http://www.wescorpenergy.com/

About Investars
www.investinwhoyouare.com is owned by Investars
Investars is dedicated to helping investors enhance investment performance through innovative supply chain management tools, indexing and structured products, as well as unique media content. Our clients benefit from customized analytics designed to help them identify alpha generating investment ideas according to their own investment style and risk tolerance levels.

About us

Visit the Investorideas.com Marketplace for water opportunities for business and investors

InvestorIdeas.com:
Investorideas.com creates a meeting place for investing ideas to take form and come to life in an entrepreneurial environment, servicing the needs of small investors and start- up companies to large conglomerates! We cover multiple industry sectors but specialize in environmental and water.

Disclaimer: Our sites do not make recommendations. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. We attempt to research thoroughly, but we offer no guarantees as to the accuracy of information presented. All Information relating to featured companies is sourced from public documents and/ or the company and is not the opinion of our web sites. This site is currently compensated by featured showcase companies including Wescorp Energy (WSCE), news submissions and online advertising. Read our Compensation Disclosure and disclaimers.

For More Information Contact:
Water-stocks.com
Dawn Van Zant 800-665-0411
Email: dvanzant@investorideas.com
Web Site: www.InvestorIdeas.com www.water-stocks.com

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Friday, October 30, 2009

Water stocks news -Middlesex Water Company Reports Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results

Middlesex Water Company Reports Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results

Tidewater Utilities, Inc.ISELIN, NJ October 30, 2009) - Middlesex Water Company (NASDAQ: MSEX) today reported operating results for the quarter ended September 30, 2009.


Third Quarter Operating Results
Consolidated operating revenues, for the third quarter of 2009, decreased by less than $0.2 million from the same period in 2008. Revenues in the Middlesex system in New Jersey decreased $0.5 million as a result of abnormally lower water consumption across all customer classes. In the third quarter, we experienced a 6.9% decline in water use by our general retail metered customers, which includes commercial and industrial customers. Water consumption patterns for many larger industrial customers were lower than normal as a number of these businesses have reduced output from their individual production processes. A significant factor impacting water consumption was unseasonably cool, wet weather patterns in the mid-Atlantic region which persisted throughout the quarter. In the Tidewater Utilities system in Delaware, water consumption revenues decreased by $0.5 million, largely attributable to the same weather patterns. Revenues improved $0.7 million in that system, a result of interim rates which took effect in March 2009 and customer growth. Revenues from our contract operations business rose $0.2 million, due mostly to higher pass-through charges and scheduled management fee increases. Higher expenses offset higher revenues realized with the pass-through charges.
Middlesex Water Company CEO, Dennis W. Doll, said, "A pattern of below normal water consumption as a result of abnormally cool, wet weather continued in the third quarter in the Northeast. This pattern, coupled with the continued economic challenges of a number of our customers, particularly our commercial and industrial customers who are substantial water users, has characterized 2009 as a year of unprecedented anomalies. It is in unusual times like these that we are reminded of the strong regulatory framework that is in place to help instill confidence in our customers and our investors that not only does service reliability and related quality remain a constant but also, that our regulated utility business model is designed to help mitigate the short-term financial challenges resulting from aberrations such as abnormal weather and a difficult economy. To mitigate rising unit costs in power, fuel and chemicals and other related operating costs, and to recover $39.0 million of investments in infrastructure in the past two years, Middlesex Water filed a request for rate relief with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in August for an overall increase of approximately $15.1 million over current revenues. We continue to develop opportunities for profitable growth and to carefully manage our costs as we work through the various challenges and opportunities."


Net income declined from $4.7 million to $4.0 million. Diluted earnings per share decreased to $0.29 for the three months ended September 30, 2009, compared to $0.35 for the same period in 2008.

Operation and maintenance expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2009 increased $0.7 million or 5.7%. Labor costs increased $0.3 million due to increases in wages and resources necessary to meet the growing needs of our Delaware service territory. Despite lower water production due to unfavorable weather patterns and economic conditions, costs for chemicals and residual disposals rose $0.4 million over the same period in 2008. This was attributable to unit cost rate increases and significant rainfall which necessitated more water treatment.


Nine Month Operating Results
Operating revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 decreased $0.4 million or less than 1.0% from the same period in 2008. Operation and maintenance expenses increased $2.8 million or 7.7%. Net income decreased $2.1 million or 19.9%. Diluted earnings per share decreased to $0.60 for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 compared to $0.75 for the same period in 2008.
Board Increases Quarterly Dividend
The Company's Board of Directors approved an increase in the Company's quarterly cash dividend to $0.1800 from $0.1775. The new dividend rate is payable December 1, 2009 to shareholders of record as of November 13, 2009. This dividend increase raises the annual dividend to $0.72 from $0.71 per share of common stock.


About Middlesex Water Company
Middlesex Water Company, organized in 1897, provides regulated and unregulated water and wastewater utility services in New Jersey and Delaware through various subsidiary companies. For additional information regarding Middlesex Water Company including information about the Company's newly amended Dividend Reinvestment and Common Stock Purchase Plan, visit the Company's Web site at www.middlesexwater.com or call (732) 634-1500.


This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, among others, our long-term strategy and expectations, the status of our acquisition program, the impact of our acquisitions, the impact of current and projected rate requests and the impact of our capital program on our environmental compliance. 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 Commission.

*financial tables and full release visit www.middlesexwater.com



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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Dr Oz on drinking water -

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dont-drink-water

Living in the US we are not accustomed to worrying about the safety of the water coming out of our taps. That's because state and federal standards are in place that help safeguard public drinking water. Still, while the US is among the safest water in the world, tainted water can enter our bodies when we drink, bathe, cook, launder and play – sometimes with catastrophic consequences. Life-threatening illness and birth defects can sometimes be traced back to contaminated drinking water, but mild diseases such as gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea, rashes, allergies and tooth wear can also be caused by toxins in our water.

In 1974 Congress passed the Clean Water Act, which regulates the nation's public drinking water. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with enforcing standards for contaminants in drinking water – making sure public water is treated and distributed by qualified operators and that pollutant-specific tests are performed regularly. Water suppliers are then required to issue to their customers an annual water quality report or consumer confidence report (CCR) that indicates what contaminants have been detected and how those levels compare to drinking water standards. They are also required to notify the general public if water isn't fit for human consumption.

While this system is protective, it is not perfect and contamination happens. Nearly 10 percent of water systems fail to meet EPA's standards for tap water quality. That is a cause for concern for all Americans.

Cruising for Contaminants
Contamination can occur at the source and anywhere down the pipe ending at our faucets: the watershed, reservoirs, main pipes, wells, storage tanks and plumbing. Some contamination comes about naturally, while others are knowingly and unintentionally inserted by man.

Examples of Contaminants:
· Microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses and parasites
· Inorganic materials such as salts and metals (arsenic, lead, mercury)
· Organic materials such as synthetic and volatile chemicals (methane, solvents, pesticides and herbicides)
· Industrial waste
· Agricultural waste such as livestock feces
· Sewage
· Pharmaceuticals
· Radioactive substances
Most contaminants have no smell, color or taste so you may not be able to detect a problem if you have one and water can taste different from place to place. Still, there are some conditions or activities that can signal a concern.

Here are some signs your water may not be right:
· Water that has an objectionable or unusual smell, taste or appearance
· Recurrent intestinal or other health problems particular if they are clustered in households or neighborhoods
· Old lead pipes
· Nearby livestock, agricultural crops, toxic dumps
· Stained sinks, tubs and laundry
· Indoor radon gas
· Poorly lathering soaps, shampoos and detergents
· Rapidly corroded water treatment supplies





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