Merit Filter Corporation was formed in September, 2000 when David J. Prewett, P.E., incorporated the company and subsequently purchased the assets of Merit Manufacturing, Inc. (Merit). He then hired Charles McDonald, formerly Vice-President of Merit Manufacturing, as General Manager. At the time of the acquisition, Mr. Prewett felt a name change was in order to more closely align the new company in the wastewater/water industry. Another key in the formation of Merit Filter Corporation was the ability to retain almost all of the manufacturer,s representatives formerly under contract with Merit. The majority of the representatives have been with the company from its inception, in 1978, and are intimately aware of all of the products the company has offered throughout the product’s life.

The purpose of Merit Filter Corporation was to continue the work started by Merit; create a company that would perpetuate the advancements in synthetic sludge dewatering media, and take advantage of the expertise gained over the years in the design and implementation of Merit Filter Media™. Our goal is to continue to provide low cost, low maintenance products to meet the sludge dewatering, screening and sludge thickening needs of our clients.

Dave Prewett passed away in February 2013, and his sons, Matt and Doug Prewett, inherited the company. The company continues today thanks in large part to the product knowledge, experience, and sales rep network of its GM, Chuck McDonald. Matt and Doug share their father’s business philosophies and are carrying on the company legacy, identity, and brand value that their father created with Merit Filter Corporation.

Dave Prewett was a licensed P.E. in the state of Texas, with over 35 years of experience working within the water and wastewater treatment business. Over the course of his career, his various roles included serving as a design engineer and project manager for a consulting engineer firm (23 years), a sales representative for water and wastewater treatment equipment systems (13 years), and as a manufacturer. During all of these various functions, he always believed in serving his clients and customers by recommending treatment systems that are reliable, easy to operate, and cost-effective. Merit Filter Corporation, and the product lines that we offer, meet all of these criteria.

During his years in the engineering business, Mr. Prewett designed the first municipal installation of a gravity sludge dewatering system in the state of Texas, for the city of New Braunfels, in 1983. This project was funded under a grant from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, and as such, the utility received additional funding under the Innovative/Alternative design program, for the sludge dewatering facilities segment of the project. Additionally, he designed systems for several other installations as an engineer, and since moving to the sales representative area, has sold, overseen the installation of, and performed start-up services on several more systems.

Charles McDonald started working with Merit Filter Corporations products in 1982, when he was employed by Hendrick Fluid Systems as a Project Coordinator. The Hendrick Fluid Systems division of Hendrick Manufacturing, Carbondale, PA, was concerned with the application of its stainless steel wedgewire products for use in the wastewater and water treatment field. These wedgewire products were used for sludge dewatering, screening applications and sludge thickening applications. It was during this time a cast polyurethane sludge dewatering media was developed. This would prove to be a lower cost alternative to the use of stainless steel wedgewire in sludge dewatering beds.

In 1983, the then General Manger of the division, Mr. Vince Spaulding, along with three other silent investors, came to an agreement with Hendrick Manufacturing, to purchase the division; which was renamed. Mr. McDonald continued working for the “new” company and became their Northeast Regional Sales Manager in 1984. In his role as Northeastern Regional Sales Manager he provided sales and technical support in a 19 state region. Part of the technical support provided was testing various municipal and industrial sludge’s, with cast polyurethane sludge dewatering bed media, in a 60 square foot trailer mounted unit. During the next 5 years, virtually every type of municipal and industrial sludge was tested, under varying climactic conditions. This testing gave Mr. McDonald invaluable experience in how polyurethane sludge dewatering media would do with these different sludge’s.

In 1985, Mr. McDonald became General Manager of the company. During his tenure as General Manager, a lower cost alternative, or method of construction, was sought for the cast polyurethane sludge dewatering media. Along with the owners of the company, Mr. McDonald searched for a new method of manufacturing the media. In conjunction with a polyurethane supplier and a mold manufacturer an improved injection molded media was produced.

During the time he was Northeast Regional Manager and General Manager, Mr. McDonald saw explosive growth of the sludge dewatering media. He was instrumental in the design, installation and start up of over 450 synthetic media installations during his 13 years with the company.

In 1995, the company was acquired by AquaCare Systems, Inc., a publicly owned company that was acquiring companies in the wastewater and water treatment field. During the time of ownership by AquaCare Systems one of the silent investors in the original company resigned and formed a new company; Merit Manufacturing. Mr. McDonald also resigned from AquaCare Systems and became Vice President of Merit Manufacturing in 1996.

Merit Manufacturing was successful in signing the majority of the manufacturer’s representatives that had been “acquired” by AquaCare Systems after the purchase of the company. This enabled Mr. McDonald to perpetuate a long relationship with the representatives he was instrumental in hiring at the original, Hendrick Fluid Systems, Inc.