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Absolute Water Technologies founder and president Rick Kaestner was inducted into the Mehlville School District Alumni Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025. He’s one of five graduates from Mehlville and Oakville High Schools to receive the honor this year.
Rick graduated from Oakville High School in 1991. He held leadership roles early – class president his senior year, student body president the same year. Those experiences, he says, taught him how to work with people.
“I really got into the student government,” Rick said in the video. “I think that I learned a lot from that, just working with people.”
After high school, he earned a bachelor’s in psychology from Southwest Missouri State and later completed a master’s in public administration. He spent time working different jobs, sometimes two at a time, before entering the water treatment industry.
Rick’s career turned toward healthcare water systems. He saw a gap. Before standards like ANSI/AAMI ST108 existed, there were no requirements for water used in surgery. No protection against medical instrumentation having bacteria endotoxins – contaminants that cause surgical site infections.
Rick helped change that. He served on the inaugural committee for ANSI/AAMI ST108, the standard for water used in processing medical devices. He continues to chair subcommittees for TIR 119, the technical guidance document that helps healthcare facilities implement ST108.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services hired Absolute Water Technologies – when the company was only a year or two old – to provide national training for water inspectors working in dialysis. Today, the company services dialysis water systems across St. Louis and maintains healthcare water systems throughout the Midwest.
The Hall of Fame video featured interviews with people who’ve known Rick for decades.
Rodney Gerdes, a longtime friend: “Rick was a go-getter. He was determined to be successful in pretty much everything that he did. If it could be achieved and Rick set a goal to get it done, then Rick got it done.”
Darren Hambacker, another friend: “I always knew he would. Just how hard he worked when we were young. He’s always excelled. It doesn’t surprise me at all that he’s so successful.”
Steve Wambold, CEO of Lettermen’s Energy Holdings, hired Rick early in his career into what he describes as an extremely difficult turnaround situation. Rick turned it around quickly.
“Rick knows how to channel that intensity and focus appropriately,” Wambold said. “Leading people appropriately is sort of inspiring people to go places where they might not be able to go without your help. That skill set alone made him incredibly successful in my organization, and of course, exactly with what he’s doing today as well.”
The Mehlville School District produced a video honoring Rick as part of the induction ceremony. You can watch it above.
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