GREENWOOD – Indiana American Water President Matt Prine on Tuesday announced the company’s acquisition of the Claypool water system in northern Indiana.

The purchase of the system adds approximately 150 water customers to the company’s customer base, which represents a population of more than 400 residents, according to a news release from IAW.

“The acquisition of this system will help hold future rates down for Claypool customers as needed investments are made and also provides access to operations and capital management water professionals and a number of customer service options and payment methods,” said Prine. “Indiana American Water already provides water service to several nearby communities, so this is a good fit for us and a continuation of our efforts to expand our presence across Indiana.”

The acquisition of the Claypool water system for $700,000 was approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on Feb. 22 and closed by Indiana American Water and the town of Claypool on March 28.

According to Claypool Town Council President Benny Stage, “Claypool customers will benefit from Indiana American Water’s experience and expertise and the company’s large customer base across the state will provide much greater economies of scale and future rate stability by keeping water rates lower than they would have been as a small, stand-alone system.

“The business of providing water is getting more complicated every day, especially for smaller systems like ours that struggle with evolving regulatory issues and not having the scale to gain efficiencies in our operations,” said Stage. “The sale will also facilitate much needed improvements to the system and allow us to focus on other community needs.”

Indiana American Water, a subsidiary of American Water, is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and wastewater services to more than 1.3 million people, the news release states. With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse U.S. publicly traded water and wastewater utility company. The company employs approximately 6,500 professionals who provide regulated and regulated-like drinking water and wastewater services to an estimated 14 million people in 24 states. American Water provides safe, clean, affordable, and reliable water services to customers to help keep their lives flowing. For more information, visit amwater.com and diversityataw.com. Follow American Water on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.