ITT spins out water business

ITT Corporation has spun off its water business, creating a new company for water and wastewater called Xylem.


The name derives from part of the natural fluid transport system for plants. The company says it will now deliver ITT’s water industry portfolio of pumping and treatment solutions.

Speaking at Xylem’s launch at Aquatech in Amsterdam on November 1, president of the water solutions business, Mike Kuchenbrod, said the new company would have two divisions, one for water infrastructure and one for applied water.

The infrastructure business would focus on transport, treatment and testing, while the applied division would be about users of water, for example in building applications, agriculture and industry.

Mr Kuchenbrod told edieWater sister magazine Water and Wastewater Treatment (WWT) that the UK was one of the countries where Xylem had a big presence and “great capability” to help with the upgrades to infrastructure required by the utilities. He said that the company would “leverage best practice in the rest of the world” from its UK operation, especially in areas such as after-care.

Gretchen McCain, president and chief executive of Xylem said, “While our name has changed with the spin off, our customers will find in Xylem the same commitment to providing local service to meet their specific needs, while leveraging our global network, technological strengths and applications expertise.”

Xylem, which is headquartered in the US, serves a US$30B segment of the global water equipment and services market. It includes well-known brands such as Flygt, Godwin, Goulds and YSI. The company has also announced a partnership with GE to become an international distribution partner into the public utilities market for its advanced treatment products, including ZeeWeed hollow-fibre membrane technology for ultrafiltration and its latest membrane bioreactor for wastewater, LEAPmbr.

“The agreement with GE underscores our commitment to providing customers with a complete range of products for water treatment,” said Mr Kuchenbrod.

Natasha Wiseman

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