Basin Water Announces Aquisitions

Basin Water, Inc. (Nasdaq:BWTR) has executed an agreement to purchase West Riverside Canal Company and the 350 Inch Water Company.

The West Riverside Canal Company (WRCC) was formed in 1886 and owns a canal which has historically been used to transport water for agricultural and other non-potable water applications. The canal is 18 miles in length and crosses several of the largest groundwater basins in Southern California. The 350 Inch Water Company was formed in 1891 and has historic water rights in the Riverside Basin of approximately 960 million gallons/year. It presently operates two wells and a pipeline distribution system producing approximately 150 million gallons/year of non-potable water.

Basin Water intends to use this acquisition as the platform for a regional water resource business. By expanding the utilization of both these assets and using Basin Water’s expertise in drinking water treatment, the Company has the potential to convert a significant non-potable water resource into drinking water supplies.

Both the WRCC canal and 350 Inch Water Company are located in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, which combined have a population of over 4 million people and are among the fastest growing areas in Southern California.

“This acquisition goes hand in hand with Basin Water’s commitment to providing reliable, long-term sources of water and allows the Company to have a direct interest in the ownership of water resources in a region chronically short of water,” said CEO and Chairman Peter Jensen. “It is projected that Southern California will experience a population increase of approximately 10 million people over the next 20 years. Reliable supplies of drinking water will be essential to sustain this growth. Basin Water is already very active in the Riverside and San Bernardino markets, with over 26 million gallons per day of installed treatment capacity. The addition of these water resource assets will greatly enhance our position in the water supply and service industry.”

Basin Water designs and builds systems for the treatment of contaminated groundwater. Basin Water employs treatment technologies including its own proprietary, scalable ion-exchange wellhead treatment system which reduces groundwater contaminant levels in an efficient, flexible and cost-effective manner.