ST. PAUL, Minn., March 20, 2001 — Pentair today announced that the Pentair Pump Group, a unit of the company's Water Technologies segment, has received a multi-million dollar contract for the installation of wastewater pumping equipment slated for a major municipal treatment plant in New York City. Engineering work on the project will begin immediately, with delivery of the pumps expected over the course of the next two years.
Each of the eight Fairbanks Morse brand pumps on the project weighs over ten tons, stands more that 12 feet high, and can handle more than 50,000 gallons per minute. For energy conservation, they will be driven by high-efficiency electric controlled by variable frequency drives. In addition to the main pumps, 19 large sludge pumps and 10 smaller, specialized pumps round out the Pentair contract.
The project reflects the growing trend for infrastructure spending to upgrade municipal fresh water and wastewater systems across the United States. Richard J. Cathcart, president of Pentair's Water Technologies segment, notes that the EPA estimates a need for $150 billion dollars in spending over the next 20 years to ensure safe drinking water in America's cities.
"This job, together with another recently completed New York City project, round out more than $10 million in municipal business that the Pentair group has been awarded in the last two years on the Eastern seaboard alone," Cathcart said.
Fairbanks Morse Pump, located in Kansas City, has a long history as a manufacturer of custom-built water and wastewater pumping equipment for municipal applications. Pentair's Water Technologies segment has expanded beyond its original pump business to become a diversified, global water equipment business that delivered compound annual growth of 45 percent in sales and 55 percent in profits from 1995 through 2000.
Pentair ( http://www.pentair.com ) is a St. Paul-based manufacturer whose core businesses compete in tools, water technologies, and enclosures markets. The company employs 13,000 people in more than 50 locations around the world.
