Southwest Water Co. named David Stanton to the position of chief operating officer, a post vacant since May 2006. Stanton joined Southwest Water in late 2006 as executive vice president of strategic development and had previously served in a similar position at Long Beach-based, privately held wastewater-services provider Earth Tech Inc. Shares in the Los Angeles-based utility company were up 1.5 percent to $11.83 in afternoon trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq.