Early History of APS

APS was founded by Ken Reardon, Sr. in 1970 as he envisioned transforming his former Eastern Engineering and Surveying, and Eastern Engineering & Sales companies to an Environmental Sales entity.

Through the late -1950’s, Ken Reardon Sr. started Eastern Engineering & Surveying Company, a consulting and surveying firm in Halifax, Nova Scotia. By the mid-1960’s the company had re-branded as Eastern Engineering Sales in an effort to focus on equipment sales of pumps, chemical feed and chlorination systems as well as industrial and commercial paint and blast equipment. By the late 1960’s Eastern Engineering Sales had started to diversify and expand the current commercial and industrial sales focus into municipal environmental sales that included packaged water and wastewater treatment systems, wholesale water conditioning equipment, and chlorination systems manufactured by Canadian and American companies.

In 1970, with the company establishing significant interest and momentum in the environmental equipment area, Ken Sr. established Atlantic Purification Systems Ltd. (APS) as agents and distributors of packaged water and wastewater treatment equipment, chlorination and UV disinfection systems, pumps, compressors and air filtration systems. His goal was to establish a brand that highlighted a focus on Municipal & Industrial Water, Wastewater and Air Purification Systems. To this end, the company became regional agents and distributors for some of the leading water and wastewater, manufacturers of this era.

The company also continued to develop and distribute ancillary equipment and commodity lines, for local commercial, municipal and industrial markets, including chemical feed systems, chlorination systems, paint and sandblast equipment, compressors and oil/gas filters and purification systems.

APS quickly became one of the driving forces in the Atlantic Region for the advancement of water and wastewater treatment and treatment technologies. Ken Sr. travelled throughout Atlantic Canada to introduce and implement gas chlorination technology for disinfection of community and private water supplies while also implementing packaged RBC and extended aeration sewage treatment systems in communities, industrial plants, campgrounds, resorts, and residential developments that previously had limited, or no, secondary or tertiary treatment facilities.

Over the next few decades, aligned with many of the leading North American treatment system manufacturers of that era, APS was positioned to supply various process equipment to large municipal and industrial treatment facilities in the region, as they started to build, expand and/or upgrade their infrastructure to meet growing operations and communities as well as increasing environmental regulatory requirements. During this period, APS supplied large primary, secondary and tertiary wastewater treatment equipment technologies as well as large municipal water treatment filtration systems to numerous municipal and industrial facilities in Atlantic Canada. The company also supplied some of the region’s largest industrial facilities with oil/gas recovery and purification systems for both treatment and reuse.

The company grew to incorporate numerous ancillary technologies such as screening, grit removal, water control gates, aeration, large FRP water and wastewater tanks, anaerobic digestion and membrane systems into our scope of supply, along with flow metering, gas detection and other instrumentation products.

Having established a robust environmental equipment offering in the municipal and industrial marketplace, APS continued to diversify and expand our equipment offerings to incorporate wholesale commercial and residential products for water conditioning and filtration, well pump and ancillary equipment and systems, pool pump, filtration and chlorination equipment, water metering equipment, and water testing and analysis equipment. The company diversified further to include advanced onsite treatment systems, and effluent sewer collection system technologies to facilitate the application of onsite sanitary treatment technologies to residential, commercial and industrial projects ranging from single family homes, to large towns, villages and commercial/industrial facility developments.

During this period APS purchased and acquired the assets, inventory and customer base of four separate companies to facilitate new market sales, business expansion and employee growth.

Supported by the growth of several different market sectors in our region, our APS product lines had developed into several distinct Divisions that today include:

• Water & Wastewater Treatment & Disinfection
• Onsite Sewage Collection & Treatment Systems
• Water and Wastewater Tanks
• Pumps, Fluid Handling and Chemical Feed Systems
• Water Control Gates & Valves
• Water & Waste Water Analysis Instrumentation
• Wholesale Water Conditioning & Filtration
• Industrial Filtration & Air Systems
• Industrial Paint Spray & Sandblasting

APS has grown into a strong and diverse sales company that has weathered Atlantic Region, and related, market economic ups & downs for over 50 years.

APS Today

Ken Sr’s original vision of a company focused on the environmental sector and was ahead of its time, during a period when few others were even concerned with the environment. More than 50 years later, the environmental market in Atlantic Canada continues to grow due to:

• The expanding population and increasing industrial development in all areas of the region and the need for expanded infrastructure to support this growth
• Increasing regulatory pressure to enhance treatment levels and minimize the impacts of coastal and other discharges
• Federal investments in municipal and other projects to improve water and wastewater
• Equipment technology improvements and upgrades that reduce ongoing maintenance and operational costs to owners
• The ongoing need for replacement parts and equipment

Ken’s primary goals related to his vision of an environmental company were to:

• Provide products and solutions of the highest level of “Quality”
• While building business relationships that are founded on “Integrity”
• And to leverage the experience and dedication of our employees to provide the highest level of “Performance” for our customers

After following this path for over 50 years, the indicators below suggest that APS is well established, and positioned, to continue to grow in all of our primary market sectors:

• Diverse – Representing over 60 of the most widely recognized brands in the Water, Wastewater and Industrial equipment markets, APS’s diverse portfolio helps us through market downturns in any one area while making us a one-stop-shop for project development and equipment supply.
• Knowledgeable – APS and our staff have a strong and accomplished background in the implementation of new technologies in the Atlantic Region and knowledge of the technologies we represent, supported by some of the best recognized manufacturers in the marketplace.
• Technical Support – APS is recognized not only for the quality of equipment we provide but for the value added technical and support services we offer in all our equipment markets. Beyond the supply of equipment, APS provides technical and design assistance to consulting engineers, as well as plant or facility owners and operators, who are considering new equipment, or changes to equipment in their application area. Contractors, owners and operators also benefit from our technical support for the selection, installation, start-up, commissioning, trouble-shooting, and servicing, of the equipment we supply.
• Expertise – Over the years APS has established career positions in our key divisions that have facilitated the development of our internal expertise to a level where our people are recognized as some of the most knowledgeable in the region in each of their fields, or marketplaces.
• Staff – APS currently employs staff in excess of twenty-five persons at our Dartmouth head office location, and our New Brunswick office and warehouse in Dieppe, NB.
• Parts Stocking – Our office and warehouse locations in Dartmouth, NS and Dieppe, NB, stock over 12,000 replacement parts and consumable items to keep our customer’s equipment running.
• Family Legacy – At the beginning of 2010, family members, representing three generations of the Reardon family, were involved in the business. In the spring of that year Joyce and Ken’s remaining majority shares in the company were purchased by second-generation family members (Kathy, Paula and Terry). Ownership and operation of APS has since expanded to the family’s second and third generations, who now own and operate APS, and are ensuring the company continues under the legacy established by Ken and Joyce Reardon.

APS Market Presence and Technology Development and Transfer

APS has been introducing and promoting new environmental technologies to Atlantic Canada for over 50 years. These technologies have assisted municipalities and industry in addressing environmental issues while also enhancing community health and welfare throughout our region. This trend of technology introduction has continued through the present day as APS and our suppliers, in conjunction with regional municipalities and their consultants, continue to receive awards for solving environmental issues in our region through the application of new technology, innovation and design.

As a supplier of advanced treatment and process technologies, APS plays an important role in keeping our market constantly aware of the newest advancements in environmental treatment and process equipment. To this end, APS maintains an active presence and role in our markets through participation in local, regional, national and North American market and supplier associations, trade shows and related market educational, focus or stakeholder groups including:

• Water Environment Federation (WEF)
• Water Quality Association (WQA)
• American Water Works Association (AWWA)
• Atlantic Canada Water & Wastewater Association (ACWWA)
• Maritime Provinces Water & Wastewater Association (MPWWA)
• Wastewater Nova Scotia (WWNS)
• Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport (WWETT)
• Nova Scotia Ground Water Association (NSGWA)
• Atlantic Water Well Association (AWWA)
• NL Clean & Safe Drinking Water Conference
• Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic Technology Show (MEET)
• NL Mineral Resources Review Conferences (CIM)
• Atlantic Canada Petroleum Show (ACPS)
• NS School Maintenance Advisory Committee (NSSMAC)

APS and our staff also annually register with, and support activities of, many of these, and other, professional associations to facilitate the education and on-going training and certification of employees, the transfer of technology and technological information to our market place, and to support the growth of our market and market associations in our region. Our employees have been active participants in a number of these associations, acting as executives, sitting on committees and participating in meetings, conferences and trade shows as well as conducting stakeholder education and sales seminars and presentations.

APS also actively supports these associations, and our manufacturers, in their key priority areas through advertising, sponsorships, technical reviews and submittals for articles in regional, National and North American market related publications.

• MPWWA Report
• ACWWA – Go With the Flow
• Manufacturer Case Studies
• Key Equipment or Project Advertising and Promotional Articles

Community Involvement

The Reardon family has been entrenched on the Maritime Sport scene since Joyce and Ken were young athletes. Ken Sr. was a competitive rower, hockey player and tennis player in Nova Scotia as an adolescent and young adult and as an adult and senior competed in curling competitions provincially. He competed nationally and internationally in tennis representing Canada where he was part of several world championship senior teams. Ken was subsequently inducted in to the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame for his achievements as a senior tennis player at the Provincial, Regional, National and International levels. A number of his children and grandchildren have followed in Ken’s footsteps competing provincially, nationally and internationally in a number of sports that include tennis, badminton, basketball, volleyball, soccer, hockey, football, gymnastics and sailing.

This love for sport has also been an on-going theme at APS. The company has been a primary sponsor for dozens of provincial and community sports related teams, events and associations for decades. APS also provides regular support for teams and activities involving employees and their children or families, or where employees are actively engaged in community sport programs.

APS also annually provides thousands of dollars of support to associations, foundations, local charities, customer events and charities, and education award programs annually, providing equipment, gifts or cash donations to support these causes. We participate regularly in environmental sector initiatives such as ACWWA’s Water for People and provide an annual scholarship in the environmental program of the NS Community College. The company sponsors a child under the World Vision program and supports an annual employee charitable fund, matching employee donations made, to their selected charities.