More than one billion people around the world, most of them in developing nations, lack access to safe water. The result is that preventable waterborne diseases continue to be a leading cause of illness and death globally. Every day, approximately 25,000 people, mainly children in developing countries, die from preventable waterborne diseases, according to the World Health Organization. Pentair has been in search of a solution that not only brings safe water to communities in need, but also ensures that the solution is sustainable at the community level, taking into consideration the complex economic, cultural and geographical constraints that need to be addressed. The solution also needs to have validating methods and standard practices that can be replicated around the world. To accomplish this, the Pentair Foundation funded a multi-year research program in remote Colón, Honduras. The results of the five year program and the impact on the lives of the people in Colón have been profound. The results demonstrated that sustainable access to safe water and adequate sanitation can be provided cost-effectively, and that the health and welfare of the recipients can be significantly improved. Additionally, to ensure that safe treated water continues to be available beyond Pentair’s initial funding period, a microenterprise business model was established, where the local community owns the water treatment systems and users pay their communities a nominal fee for potable water. The individual user fee is established by the local community to cover the ongoing operation and maintenance of their system. Once installed, the system costs pennies per person per day to operate. Leveraging this success, Pentair is partnering around the world by putting its grants, technology and talent to work for communities in need of clean drinking water. By engaging community partners and equipping them with our extensive product portfolio and technical water distribution systems expertise, we are measurably improving water safety and sanitation worldwide. Understanding that everyone’s efforts add up to more effective answers, Pentair is leading through partnership to find a sustainable solution to the global water crisis. Pentair invites others to join in working toward a world where everyone has access to quality water supply. We are making our findings and models publicly available to other organizations and municipalities interested in replicating these cost-effective methods. By turning industry insights into collaborative proactive plans and on-the-ground tools, we are confident that even the most challenging issues can be solved when we unite around smart ideas. Reference: Pentair.com
Category: Pentair Industrial Articles
Pentair Industrial AquaLine
Product Spotlight: Pentair Industrial AquaLine 
Pentair Reports Exceptional Growth
Pentair Incorporated, one of FilterPure Systems leading brands has shown record growth over the last 52 weeks and during the first financial quarter 2011. Driven by sales growth in emerging markets as well as across Europe and the United States, Pentair reported $790 million in first quarter sales, improving company financials and prospects for future growth. “The first quarter was a great start to the year, with 12 percent organic revenue growth, meaningful margin expansion and excellent earnings growth. Our investments are yielding positive results, particularly evident in our geographic expansion, strong innovation and productivity gains,” said Randall J. Hogan, Pentair chairman and chief executive officer. Hogan added “Strong demand in the industrial end markets continued, along with rapid growth in fast growth markets, led by China where sales were up 26 percent. While the U.S. residential end market continues its modest recovery, demand for our energy-efficient and sustainable product offerings remains solid.” Pentair and investors alike are taking these improvements to be a positive signal for the future. While the company is banking on its hefty Q1 sales figures and growth in working capital to push free cash flow north of $240 million for the whole of 2011, investors are fixated on the firm’s 18.3 P/E ratio, a healthy margin below the industry average of 19.9, making Pentair the obvious immediate choice when considering the addition of water or technical products to the portfolio. Additionally, Pentair offered a 2.1% dividend yield, adding further allure to their present stock. The future looks bright as well. According to Hogan, Pentair’s plans for the remainder of the fiscal year include margin expansion, as well as “pricing and productivity [that] more than offset inflation.” Further bolstering Pentair’s outlook is the recently announced acquisition by the firm of Norit’s Clean Process Technologies, the 2011 winner of the Global Water Summit’s “Water Technology Company of the Year” award.