MUELLER INNOVATION NEWS

The Mobile Water Distribution Training School is Traveling to Canada in 2025

One of our favorite things to do at Mueller is meet with and provide product training for our customers! In 2025 the Mueller mobile training school is excited to be crossing our Northern border and be touring all ten Provinces of Canada. Attendees will learn about product selection, installation, operation, and maintenance in a fun and relaxed, hands-on learning environment. Class topics include hydrants, valves, leak detection, pressure management, service brass, drilling and tapping machines, pipe repair, hydrant security and more. Instructors are highly experienced water industry professionals, and the curriculum is approved for Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

In 2024 we had close to two hundred distributor representatives from 22 states and six Canadian provinces participate in our training course. These classes were held at the Mueller Training & Collaboration Center in Chattanooga. We also traveled to and participated in the Mueller Global Leadership/Sales meeting and conducted training for over 100 attendees. In addition, our mobile training team conducted 28 classes across 13 states along the West Coast, reaching close to 1,400 water operators. Big thanks to our training team, George Lacefield, Jarred King and Chuck Kuhlman for another successful year! If you are in Canada and would like to attend one of these free classes, please contact your Mueller Territory Manager.

Check out our Fourth Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report

2023 was a year of great progress at Mueller from an environmental, health and sustainability perspective. We were upgraded by MSCI to its highest ESG level of AAA, an important milestone from an agency that evaluates and scores companies’ ESG practices. We also added to our global disclosure alignment to share our progress against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDSs) and provided our initial climate-related response to the CDP.

2023 ESG Report Highlights

Reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity by ~3 percent year-over-year compared with 2022 even with the addition of the new brass foundry, six distribution centers and the Mueller corporate office

Used ~90 percent recycled metal to produce our products

Decreased waste directed to disposal by 15+ percent year-over-year

Used ~45,600 metric tons of recycled metal compared to ~18,900 metric tons of total waste generated

Generated 5.8 billion estimated gallons of water loss savings for clients by EchoShore® leak detection since 2020

“Mueller has been solving problems for our customers, communities and industries alike for more than 165 years,” said Martie Edmunds Zakas, Mueller’s Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to continuing to help our customers deliver clean, safe drinking water to millions of people for generations to come.”

Mueller’s full 2023 ESG report is available here. To learn more about Mueller Water Products’ ESG strategy, initiatives, performance, targets and goals, please visit the ESG page on our website.

Minnetonka, MN Pilots Acoustic Pipe Assessment Prior to Road Resurfacing

The City of Minnetonka provides 2 - 2.4 billion gallons of water per year to over 50,000 residents. An estimated 80% of their water pipe network was installed during significant municipal expansions in the 1950-60’s and consequently are approaching the end of their design life within the next 20 years.

The County has a five-year excavation moratorium following rehabilitation of a roadway surface, and an expectation that no significant utility work is to be performed for 20 years following a resurfacing project. The City was faced with a decision to either rehabilitate or replace two miles of 18-inch water main now or delay the work for 20 years. To gather critical data on the condition of the water main, the City sought out condition assessment solutions and contracted a local civil engineering firm. The Echologics® ePulse solution was chosen because it is non-invasive, easy to use and does not require entering the pipe or affecting the flow of water to customers.

A total of 12,500 feet of water main was tested to identify areas of concern to support the City’s decision to leave, rehabilitate or replace in whole or part under County Road 3 and Excelsior Boulevard. The decision would consider the 5- and 20-year moratoriums along with the current condition of the main from the assessment to identify any rehabilitation work required ahead of or in conjunction with the County Road project.

The primary objectives of the pipe condition assessment program were to:
Determine the condition of the water mains by measuring the remaining structural thickness of the pipes and percentage loss to-date.

Investigate the pipe for the existence of any leaks.

Utilize pipe condition information to assist with rehabilitation or replacement decisions by the City.

Once the maps were reviewed and the project scoped, Echologics’ field personnel completed the survey in three days. The entire process took about 2 months overall. The results showed that 13 out of 30 segments tested (44% of total number segments) appeared to be in good condition with less than 10% loss in wall thickness. There were fourteen segments (47% of total number of segments) that appeared to be in moderate condition with wall thickness loss of 10% to 30% from nominal. Zero segments appeared to be in poor condition with more than 30% loss in wall thickness.

The City recognized that if a reassessment in 5 or 10 years identified pipes currently in moderate condition to be in poor condition at that time, they would still be subject to the moratorium imposed by the county. As such, the City leveraged the current condition assessment data outlined above, coupled with an analysis of extrapolated degradation over the next 20 years to identify the expected condition of various segments of the main at the end of the moratoriums. The current and extrapolated condition data were critical to the City’s renewal decisions for segments across the length of the main assessed.

Click Here for more information about ePulse condition assessment

Mueller is interviewed by Water Online At WEFTEC

Dale Speggen from Mueller dives into the company’s vital role in shaping the water infrastructure landscape. As a key figure at Mueller, Dale offers a behind-the-scenes look into the company’s work in manufacturing specialty valves and shares how the company has risen to meet evolving industry demands over the past year. He reveals how Mueller’s custom valve solutions address unique customer needs and support critical water and wastewater projects. Dale also explains how the company is aligning with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to tackle the pressing challenges of aging water infrastructure in the U.S.Dale Speggen from Mueller dives into the company’s vital role in shaping the water infrastructure landscape. As a key figure at Mueller, Dale offers a behind-the-scenes look into the company’s work in manufacturing specialty valves and shares how the company has risen to meet evolving industry demands over the past year. He reveals how Mueller’s custom valve solutions address unique customer needs and support critical water and wastewater projects. Dale also explains how the company is aligning with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to tackle the pressing challenges of aging water infrastructure in the U.S.

Click Here to hear how Mueller is helping utilities address the challenges of today.

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