On September 30, 2017 Urbans Aqua successfully acquired Michael Urbans’ “business territory” from Nalco Water, an Ecolab Company. Separation of Michael’s territory enables both companies to concentrate on core business activities.
ARE WE NUTS?
Some might ask why we started over again this late in our careers? It’s about passion. Passion for the water treatment industry. We want to share our vast experience and use our 30+ years in this industry to provide a product mix to solve almost any water problem.
The nature of Michael’s business never changed after the sale of Res-Kem to Nalco in 2010. His devotion to his customers and the water treatment industry hasn’t wavered. So rather than starting over from scratch, an acquisition was pursued to assure continuity for the customer base and vendors.
We hope our current and future customers will find our “character” to be more fun than average as we endeavor to supply great water treatment products, advice and solutions.
Officers
Michael Urbans MWS, President 
Michael started the residential resale business for Res-Kem in 1984. Continually active in a variety of roles with both Res-Kem and Nalco, Michael has accumulated extraordinary residential and commercial water treatment knowledge. In the industry, he is often considered the go-to guy for difficult water problems.
Michael has been an active member of the Water Quality Association (WQA Website) since 1989. He was on the WQA Board of Directors and is a life time member of the President’s Club having recruited more than 50 companies for membership. Michael is on the Board of Directors of the Eastern Water Quality Association (EWQA) and has served many terms as President. In April of 2018 Michael received the prestigious WQA Key Award. Urbans Receives 2018 WQA Key Award
Denise Urbans CWS-1, Business Manger
Prior to the formation of Urbans Aqua, Denise was founder and president of Res-Kem Corp. and General Water Services Corp. Res-Kem was a leading supplier and wholesale distributor of water treatment equipment, parts and services. General Water Services Corp. was the sister company to Res-Kem and the mid-Atlantic’s second largest supplier of portable exchange equipment (SDI).
Denise is a past recipient of the Water Quality Association (WQA) Regents Award and its first female president. Denise was elected to the WQA Hall of Fame in 2015. WQA is the leading industry trade group. Denise continues to be among its most active members. Previously she was the board of directors for the Water Quality Research Foundation, an independent research foundation. Water Quality Research Foundation
Associates
Rachel Hader CWS 
Rachel has been around the water treatment industry her entire life! Her mom is Denise Urbans, father is Bob Hader and uncle is Michael Urbans. Rachel joined the family business in April of 2022. Before joining us Rachel developed expert customer service and sales skills outside of the water industry.
Rachel is working directly with Mike to learn the water treatment application side of the business so she can become his understudy. (We all know Mike always likes centerstage but, he also likes a vacation every now and then.) Rachel received her CWS certification with WQA in December, 2023. WQA Professional Certification
Chrissy Smith CWS 
In August of 2022, the moons aligned and we learned that Chrissy, formerly of Res-Kem, was ready and available to work at Urbans Aqua. Chrissy is married and has 3 children. Her more recent business experience is outside of the water treatment industry. Chrissy is also working directly with Mike to learn the water treatment application side of the business. She received CWS certification with WQA in November, 2023.
Joe Urbans
Our brother, Joe Urbans, started his career as a police officer and transitioned to Res-Kem & General Water. He retired from Nalco Water where he specialized in ultra-pure sales. He has taken over for Bob who fully retired in 2024.
Bob Hader, Retired
Bob joined Denise as co-owner of Res-Kem and General Water Services one year after its founding to grow the industrial equipment business. After more than 40 successful years in the industrial water treatment equipment industry, January 2015 Bob retired from Res-Kem LLC, a division of Nalco Water, an Ecolab Company.
Even though Bob is retired he continues to share his extensive industrial water treatment expertise with Urbans Aqua and their customers.