Change and Stability in the Waterworks Industry

Recently, while moving, I ran across a manilla file folder that I had titled Work Memorabilia.

In it was a newspaper clipping with a photograph from Russell Pipe & Foundry in Alexander City, AL.  The photo showed a workman standing beside a 30” C110 MJ Tee.  The photo caption, dated February 1959, described the Tee produced for the City of Miami as weighing 3,650 pounds and standing 61” tall.  The caption, obviously written by a friendly reporter, mentioned a one-week turnaround from order placement to shipment and the two full days required by molders to form the mold and pour the fitting.  However, most interesting to me, the caption described the Tee as a “giant fitting”.

In our industry today, we routinely produce and supply MJ fittings as large as 64”.  Those 64” fittings may weigh in excess of 6,000 pounds.  The 30” C110 MJ Tee would most likely be produced from ductile iron and supplied as a C153 MJ Tee.  These improvements would yield a fitting weighing only 1,300 pounds yet rated for greater working water pressure.  Those changes, without question, have created a better industry for the manufacturer, the distributor and the contractor.

These days, when I show the yellowed photograph to our young team members, each immediately recognizes the fitting as an MJ Tee.  Some even identify it as a 30” with just a glance.  After reading the caption, most laugh at the one-week requirement to produce the order, commenting that customer expectations haven’t changed much in 64 years.

That’s what I appreciate about this industry.  Much has changed yet much remains the same.  There’s a consistency within the business that allows us to build companies and careers.  With confidence, we can encourage others to join our industry knowing that opportunities exist now and into the future.

At SIGMA, we are proudly and enthusiastically embracing those opportunities.  With certainty, we inventory and promote 8” MJ 45 Bends, 562-S Valve Boxes and 6” OneLok Wedge Restraint knowing the market will require these products now and in the decades to come.  With the same certainty, we are expanding into Water Meter Enclosures, recognizing that smart meter technology and traffic ratings are challenging the design criteria of the enclosure.  Concurrently, SIGMA’s OEM division is developing new business in renewable energy in wind, solar and electric markets to complement our historical presence as an OEM for the waterworks industry.

With intention, SIGMA is positioned to meet the needs of the market today, tomorrow, and beyond.