Mueller Water Products

History

Mueller Water Products was incorporated as a standalone business on September 22, 2005, but the company traces the history of its business units, subsidiaries and brands back as far as 1850, when Frederick Grinnell purchased a controlling stake in Providence Steam and Gas Pipe, Co., the forerunner to Anvil International. In 1857, the forerunner to Mueller Co. and Mueller Systems was founded by Hieronymus Mueller in Decatur, Illinois. Providence Steam and Gas Pipe became General Fire Extinguisher Co. in 1892 after merging with several sprinkler manufacturers, and was later renamed Grinnell Co. in 1919, after the company's president, Frederick Grinnell. In 1899, 12 companies incorporated as United States Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry Company, which would later be known as U.S. Pipe after dropping "cast iron" from the company name in 1929. Grinnell Co. became known as Anvil International in 2000.

Jim Walter Corporation acquired U.S. Pipe in 1969, and in 2005, it acquired Mueller Co. and Anvil International. The three businesses were combined to form Mueller Water Products. The combined entity was then spun off as the publicly held Mueller Water Products, Inc. in 2006, moving its headquarters from the company's birthplace of Decatur, Illinois, to Atlanta, Georgia. Initially, MWP operated with three business units—Mueller Co., Anvil International, and U.S. Pipe. However, in 2012 Mueller Water Products divested U.S. Pipe to Wynnchurch Capital, Ltd., retaining only the valve and hydrant division, which now operates under the Mueller Co. business unit. Early in 2017 Mueller Water Products sold its Anvil International division to One Equity Partners and also completed the acquistion of Singer Valve, a manufacturer of automatic control valves.

Structure

Mueller Water Products is a publicly traded company governed by a board of 10 directors, including former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. It is divided into two business units—Mueller Co. and Mueller Technologies. Each of these units oversees several related brands and subsidiaries.

Mueller Co.

Mueller Co. is one of the largest North American manufacturers of valves and fire hydrants. It oversees several brands and subsidiaries that specialize in valves, fittings, utility meters, water infrastructure, leak detection, and pipe condition assessment.

Sustainability

Mueller Water Products and its subsidiaries view Sustainability as an integral business practice. MWP utilizes various processes and has instituted a number of corporate policies to encourage conservation and sustainability in its manufacturing and service offerings.

In 2014, The Company's Board of Directors formed the Environment, Health & Safety Committee to continue to challenge their moves towards Smart Sustainability. The Environment, Health & Safety Committee encourages and oversees programs and initiatives that demonstrate sound environmental stewardship and the Corporation’s progress on sustainability practices.

As an industry leader, MWP recognizes that these responsibilities not only address their commitment to their employees and their plant sites, but it also extends to other stakeholders, including customers and the communities in which they operate.

MWP is the only manufacturer of valves and hydrants that utilizes the lost-foam casting process, which reduces the amount of required materials for casting and reduces the amount of waste and emissions generated by the casting process. Mueller Co. offers all of its waterworks brass products in low-lead varieties. MWP utilizes Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and establish KPI targets in order to track and drive sustainability results. They track performance KPIs in Energy, Water Conservation, Gas, and Solid Waste. MWP is also a member of the U.S. Green Building Council. and the EPA's Energy Star program.