Rielis Mesquita is President and CEO of Aqualite US, a water and air purification company he founded nearly three decades ago. His decision to build a career around clean water was shaped by personal tragedy — the loss of two young brothers in Brazil to illness linked to contaminated drinking water — and before starting Aqualite, he worked as an executive chef, where he developed a close familiarity with health-conscious food preparation and materials safety.
Aqualite began in 1991 in the Boston area as a small counter-top and under-sink water filtration business. Over time, and especially through economic downturns and the pandemic, Mesquita and his leadership team adapted the business, forming a retail partnership with Home Depot and later expanding into air purification technology aimed at schools and businesses looking to reduce airborne viral transmission.
He frames the company's mission simply as being in the business of keeping people healthy, combining water treatment systems with EPA-certified air purification products as part of a broader approach to household and workplace wellness.
