Mueller Water Products, Inc. (Mueller) operates as a manufacturer and marketer of products and services used in the transmission, distribution and measurement of water in North America. The company’s products and services are used by municipalities and the residential and non-residential construction industries. Some of the company’s products have leading positions as a result of their strong brand recognition and reputation for quality, service and innovation. The company’s iron gate valve or f...
Mueller Water Products, Inc. (Mueller) operates as a manufacturer and marketer of products and services used in the transmission, distribution and measurement of water in North America. The company’s products and services are used by municipalities and the residential and non-residential construction industries. Some of the company’s products have leading positions as a result of their strong brand recognition and reputation for quality, service and innovation. The company’s iron gate valve or fire hydrant products are specified for use in the largest 100 metropolitan areas in the United States. The company’s large installed base, broad product range and well-known brands have led to long-standing relationships with the key distributors and end users of its products.
Segments
The company operates its business through two segments, Water Flow Solutions and Water Management Solutions.
Water Flow Solutions
The Water Flow Solutions product portfolio includes iron gate valves, specialty valves and service brass products.
Water Management Solutions
The Water Management Solutions product and service portfolio includes fire hydrants, repair and installation, natural gas, metering, leak detection, as well as pressure management and control products and solutions.
Business Strategy
The company’s business strategy is to capitalize on the large, attractive and growing water infrastructure markets worldwide. Key elements of this strategy are to accelerate sales growth through enhanced customer experience and innovation; and continue to seek, acquire, and invest in businesses and technologies that expand its existing portfolio or allow it to enter new markets.
Products and Services
The company offers a broad line of water infrastructure, and flow control products and services primarily in the United States and Canada. Water Flow Solutions sells iron gate and specialty valves, and service brass products. Water Management Solutions sells fire hydrants, repair and installation, natural gas, metering, leak detection and pressure management and control products and solutions. The company’s products are designed, manufactured and tested in compliance with relevant industry standards. The company’s water distribution products are manufactured to meet or exceed American Water Works Association (AWWA) standards and, where applicable, certified to National Science Foundation (NSF)/American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard 61 for potable water conveyance. Underwriters Laboratory (UL) and FM Approvals (FM), two third-party certification companies, have approved many of these products. Additionally, the company’s products are typically specified by a water utility for use in its infrastructure system.
Water Flow Solutions
Water Flow Solutions’ product portfolio includes iron gate valves, specialty valves and service brass products.
Water Valves and Related Products: Water Flow Solutions manufactures valves for water systems, including iron gate, butterfly, tapping, check, knife, plug, and ball valves, and sells these products under a variety of brand names, including Mueller, Pratt, and U.S. Pipe Valve and Hydrant. These valve products are used to control distribution and transmission of potable water and non-potable water. Water valve products typically range in size from ¾ inch to 36 inches in diameter. Water Flow Solutions also manufactures significantly larger valves as custom orders through some of its product lines. Most of these valves are used in water transmission or distribution, water treatment facilities or industrial applications.
Water Management Solutions
Water Management Solutions’ portfolio includes fire hydrants, repair and installation, natural gas, metering, leak detection and pressure management and control products and solutions.
Fire Hydrants: Water Management Solutions manufactures dry-barrel and wet-barrel fire hydrants. Water Management Solutions sells fire hydrants for new water infrastructure development, fire protection systems and water infrastructure repair and replacement projects.
The company’s fire hydrants consist of an upper barrel and nozzle section and a lower barrel and valve section that connect to a water main. In dry-barrel fire hydrants, the valve connecting the barrel of the hydrant to the water main is located below ground at or below the frost line, which keeps the upper barrel dry. Water Management Solutions sells dry-barrel fire hydrants under the Mueller and U.S. Pipe Valve and Hydrant brand names in the United States and Mueller and the Canada Valve brand names in Canada. Water Management Solutions also makes wet-barrel fire hydrants, where the valves are located in the hydrant nozzles and the barrel contains water at all times. Wet-barrel fire hydrants are made for warm weather climates, such as in California and Hawaii, and are sold under the Jones brand name.
Most municipalities have approved a limited number of fire hydrant brands for installation as a result of their desire to use the same tools and operating instructions across their systems and to minimize spare part inventories. The large installed base of Mueller fire hydrants throughout the United States and Canada, reputation for superior quality and performance, as well as specified position have contributed to the leading market position of the company’s fire hydrants. This large installed base also leads to recurring sales of replacement fire hydrants and hydrant parts.
Repair Products and Services: Water Management Solutions also sells pipe repair products, such as couplings, grips and clamps used to repair leaks, under the HYMAX, Mueller and Krausz brand names.
Natural Gas Distribution Products: Water Management Solutions produces machines and tools for tapping, drilling, extracting, installing and stopping-off, which are designed to work with its water and gas fittings and valves as an integrated system. The company also provides gas valve products primarily for use in gas distribution systems.
Water Leak Detection and Pipe Condition Assessment Products and Services: Water Management Solutions develops technologies and offers products and services under the Echologics brand name that can non-invasively (i.e., without disrupting service or introducing a foreign object into the water system) detect underground leaks and assess the condition of water mains comprised of a variety of materials. The company leverages its proprietary acoustic technology to offer leak detection and condition assessment surveys. The company also offers fixed leak detection systems that allow customers to continuously monitor and detect leaks on water distribution and transmission mains. With its Singer Valve and i2O products, the company provides a range of intelligent water solutions, including pressure control valves, advanced pressure management, network analytics, event management and data logging.
Water Metering Products and Systems: Water Management Solutions manufactures and sources a variety of water technology products under the Mueller brand name that are designed to help water providers accurately measure and control water usage. Water Management Solutions offers residential, fire protection and commercial metering solutions. Residential and commercial water meters are generally classified as either manually read meters or remotely read meters via radio technology. A manually read meter consists of a water meter and a register that gives a visual meter reading display. Meters equipped with radio transmitters (endpoints) use encoder registers to convert the measurement data from the meter (mechanical or static) into an encrypted digital format which is then transmitted via radio frequency to a receiver that collects and formats the data appropriately for water utility billing systems. These remotely or electronically read systems are either automatic meter reading (AMR) systems or fixed network advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems. With an AMR system, utility personnel with mobile equipment, including a radio receiver, computer and reading software, collect the data from utilities’ meters. With an AMI system, a network of permanent data collectors or gateway receivers that are always active or listening for the radio transmission from the utilities’ meters gathers the data. Water Management Solutions sells both AMR and AMI systems and related products. The company’s remote disconnect water meter enables the water flow to be stopped and started remotely via a handheld device or from a central operating facility.
Patents, Licenses and Trademarks
The company’s brand names include Canada Valve, Centurion, Echologics, Echoshore, ePulse, Ez-Max, Hersey, Hydro Gate, Hydro-Guard, HYMAX, HYMAX VERSA, Jones, Krausz, LeakFinderRT, Milliken, Mueller. Mueller Systems, Pratt, Pratt Industrial, Repaflex, Repamax, Sentryx, Singer, and U.S. Pipe Valve and Hydrant.
Seasonality
Parts of the company’s business depend upon construction activity, which is seasonal in many areas as a result of the impact of cold weather conditions on construction. Net sales and operating income have historically been lowest in the quarters ending December 31 and March 31 when the northern United States and most of Canada generally face weather conditions that restrict significant construction and other field crew activity.
Sales, Marketing and Distribution
The company primarily sells to national and regional waterworks distributors in the United States and Canada. The company’s distributor relationships are generally non-exclusive, but it attempts to align itself with key distributors in the principal markets it serves.
The company’s extensive installed base, broad product range and well-known brands have led to many long-standing relationships with the key distributors in the principal markets it serves. The company’s distribution network covers all of the major locations for its principal products in the United States and Canada. Although the company has long-standing relationships with most of its key distributors, including its two largest distributors, which together accounted for approximately 38% of its gross sales in 2024.
Water Flow Solutions
Water Flow Solutions sells its products primarily through waterworks distributors to a wide variety of end user customers, including water and wastewater utilities, and fire protection and construction contractors. Sales of the products are heavily influenced by the specifications for the underlying projects. Approximately 6% of Water Flow Solutions’ net sales were to Canadian customers in fiscal years 2024.
Water Management Solutions
Water Management Solutions sells its products primarily through waterworks distributors to a wide variety of end user customers, including water and wastewater utilities, gas utilities, integrated suppliers, as well as fire protection and construction contractors. Sales of the company’s products are heavily influenced by the specifications for the underlying projects. Water Management Solutions also sells its water metering, leak detection, including pipe condition assessment, and pressure management and control products and solutions directly to municipalities and to waterworks distributors. Approximately 6% of Water Management Solutions’ net sales were to Canadian customers in fiscal year 2024.
Competition
The company’s principal competitors for iron gate valves are McWane, Inc. and American Cast Iron Pipe Company. The primary competitors for the company’s service brass products are The Ford Meter Box Company, Inc. and A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Co. Many service brass valves are interchangeable among different manufacturers. For the company’s specialty valve products, such as butterfly, plug, and check valves, its principal competitors are DeZURIK, Val-Matic and McWane, Inc.
The company’s principal competitors for fire hydrants are McWane, Inc. and American Cast Iron Pipe Company. The company’s primary competitors in the repair market are Romac Industries, Smith Blair, Viking Johnson, AVK Group, JCM Industries, and Georg Fisher Ltd.
The company’s principal competitors are Sensus, Neptune Technology Group Inc., Badger Meter, Inc., Itron, Inc., and Master Meter, Inc. The company also sells pressure control valves and pressure loggers through its Singer Valve and i2O products. The primary competitors for these products are Cla-Val, Watts, OCV, Ross Valve, Bermad and Halma. The company’s more significant competitors are Pure Technologies Ltd., Gutermann AG and Syrinix Ltd.
Research and Development (R&D)
The company’s R&D expenses were $20.5 million during 2024.
Regulatory and Environmental Matters
For example, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and similar state laws affect the company’s operations by, among other things, imposing investigation and cleanup requirements for threatened or actual releases of hazardous substances.
History
Mueller Water Products Inc. was founded in 1857. The company, a Delaware corporation, was incorporated in 2005.