By Nate F. Searing
Koch Membrane Systems Inc.
850 Main Street
Wilmington, MA 01887-3388
Telephone: 888-677-5624
Fax: 978-657-5208
Web: www.kochmembrane.com
Email: [email protected]
Steve Cappos, director of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration sales at Koch Membrane Systems Inc., began his long career in water treatment like many of the industry leaders of today – in a small, family-owned dealership.
“Water’s always been a part of my career,” said Cappos, whose parents founded a Rayne Soft Water dealership in 1959 where he learned the basics of POU/POE systems. “It was the part of my first job and every job since then.”
Working out of his parents’ dealership as a child, he began in an entry-level position learning the ropes of the water business. By age 27, Cappos was managing portions of the family operation but left the business after being approached by a friend at Fluid Systems Inc., now a division of Koch.
“Fluid Systems was servicing systems all over the world and it was a lot more attractive than delivering water systems in my own backyard, so I jumped at the chance,” Cappos recalls. His first assignment sent him to Jedda, Saudi Arabia as part of their installation of the world’s first large-scale desalination plant there and he has since installed and serviced municipal and industrial systems throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East.
By the time Koch Membrane Systems purchased Fluid Systems in 1998, Cappos had worked with the company in the design and installation of everything from municipal drinking water systems to high-purity for industrial applications in Silicon Valley and beyond. The result, Cappos said, is a commitment to water treatment and a lifetime of experience that while unusual in the industry as a whole, is typical of the expertise at Koch.
“Koch’s products and services run the gamut from providing residential equipment through a series of OEMs … to providing cutting-edge technology and devices for the largest of the major industrial and municipal systems,” he said.
It’s this unique, broad-brush approach to water treatment that has Cappos so excited about WQA Aquatech 2005 and its revamped focus of all things water. “We’re going to be featuring our new MegaMagnum® system at the show. It’s an element that in the past wouldn’t have been of interest to the participants of a WQA show, but with the expanded focus, we think it will be very well received.”
The MegaMagnum is an RO and nanofiltration element that makes its debut at the AWWA Membrane Technology Conference in Phoenix, Ariz., on March 6 and features unprecedented capacity with its 18-inch diameter, 61-inch length and 2,800 square feet of membrane surface area.
“It’s kind of funny, the drinking water industry really took off with the 2” by 12” under-the-sink systems, the same ones that I helped Dad sell,” Cappos said. “Today, it’s the same type of technology, only it’s five feet tall and providing water to millions of people: and I’m still selling it.”
For more information about Koch Membrane Systems, visit Cappos at booth #738 at WQA Aquatech 2005.
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Koch Membrane Systems Inc.
850 Main Street
Wilmington, MA 01887-3388
Telephone: 888-677-5624
Fax: 978-657-5208
Web: www.kochmembrane.com
Email: [email protected]