Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (ZWS)

You want to know if Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (ZWS) has the strategic backbone-the Mission, Vision, and Core Values-to justify its latest financial trajectory, and honestly, that's the right question to ask when the numbers look this good.

Their focus on being the unrivaled leader in water solutions is clearly translating to the bottom line: ZWS raised its full-year 2025 guidance to approximately 8% core sales growth, with Adjusted EBITDA projected to hit between $437 million and $440 million. But can a commitment to 'Simply Doing the Right Thing' really sustain that kind of momentum, especially when they are targeting over $300 million in free cash flow this year? Let's dig into the core purpose driving these results.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (ZWS) Overview

You're looking for a clear, no-nonsense look at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (ZWS), and the data from late 2025 is defintely compelling. This is a pure-play water business that has successfully integrated two major industry names to create a powerhouse in sustainable water management solutions.

The company was formed in July 2022 through the merger of Zurn Water Solutions and Elkay Manufacturing, bringing together over a century of experience, as Zurn itself dates back to 1900. They now offer the broadest portfolio of products designed to enhance water quality, safety, hygiene, and conservation for public and private spaces.

Their product range is extensive, covering everything from the point of water entry to its final drainage. This includes:

• Water Dispensing: Filtered bottle filling stations and water fountains.
• Water Safety & Control: Backflow preventers and thermostatic mixing valves.
• Flow Systems: Point drains, hydrants, and fixture carrier systems.
• Finish Plumbing: Sinks, faucets, and restroom solutions.

For the trailing twelve months (TTM) ending September 30, 2025, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions reported total revenue of approximately $1.66 billion. That's a strong, consistent performance in a critical infrastructure sector.

Financial Performance: Q3 2025 Highlights

The latest financial report, covering the third quarter of 2025, shows Zurn Elkay Water Solutions is executing its strategy well, beating guidance and raising the full-year outlook. Net sales for Q3 2025 were $455.4 million, which represents an 11% core sales growth compared to the same quarter last year. That's a solid jump.

Here's the quick math on profitability: Adjusted EBITDA grew 16% to $122 million, pushing the margin to 26.8% of net sales. This margin expansion is a clear sign that strategic pricing and supply chain management are working, even with expected tariff costs for the full year 2025 rising to approximately $50 million.

The core sales growth of 11% was driven by strength across all product categories, not just a single hit product. This broad-based growth signals strong demand in key end-markets like education, healthcare, and commercial construction. Plus, the company generated $94 million in free cash flow in the quarter, reducing net debt leverage to a record low of 0.6x. They are generating cash and keeping the balance sheet clean. For the full fiscal year 2025, the company projects core sales growth of approximately 8% and adjusted EBITDA between $437 million and $440 million.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions: A Leader in Sustainable Water Solutions

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions is not just a plumbing company; it's a leader in the broader water technology and infrastructure market. They hold a significant position by focusing on water safety, quality, and conservation, which are non-negotiable trends in the modern building environment.

Their position is reinforced by an unrivaled portfolio of water solutions in North America, serving critical sectors like education, healthcare, and hospitality. The company's commitment to sustainability is a key competitive advantage, a factor that resonates deeply with public and private sector customers today. Competitors like Pentair and Watts are certainly in the space, but Zurn Elkay Water Solutions' comprehensive product offering and pure-play focus give it a distinct edge.

If you want to understand the full strategic framework, including the mission that drives this financial success, you should find out more below: Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (ZWS): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (ZWS) Mission Statement

You're looking for the definitive North Star guiding Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (ZWS), and while the company doesn't publish a single, one-sentence mission statement, its actions and communications synthesize a clear, powerful mandate. The mission is essentially to be the unrivaled leader in water solutions for health, hydration, human safety, and the environment, driven by a deep commitment to sustainability and customer-focused innovation. This clarity is what allows them to deliver consistent financial performance, which is defintely what we care about.

For a company operating in a critical infrastructure space, the mission isn't just marketing; it's a blueprint for capital allocation and product development. It's why Zurn Elkay Water Solutions is on track for a full-year 2025 Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) of between $420 million and $430 million, a significant raise from their earlier guidance. That kind of financial precision is directly tied to their mission's focus on essential, high-quality products.

Here's the quick math on their recent performance: for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, the company reported net sales of $1.2887 billion, showing how their mission translates into tangible revenue growth.

Core Component 1: Providing Clean, Safe, and Reliable Water Solutions

The first core component is simple: protect human health. Everything Zurn Elkay Water Solutions does, from backflow preventers to filtered bottle filling stations, is about ensuring the water system is safe and reliable. This isn't a minor market; it's a non-negotiable one, particularly in commercial and institutional settings like hospitals and schools. Their legacy is rooted in the simple principle of Simply Doing the Right Thing, which is a strong foundation for any business.

The reliability of their products directly supports their financial stability. You see this in their core sales growth, which hit 8% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2025, with growth across all product categories. That growth comes from customers trusting their products to work every time. A failing water safety product is a catastrophic risk, so customers are willing to pay for proven quality and compliance. This focus is a competitive advantage (or what we call an economic moat) that helps lock in long-term contracts.

• Maintain product quality to ensure human safety.
• Drive core sales growth across all categories.
• Build customer trust through unparalleled reliability.

Core Component 2: Advancing Water Conservation and Sustainability

The second pillar is forward-looking: sustainability. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions is not just selling plumbing parts; they are selling water management solutions that conserve resources. They've been recognized for this, being named one of the World's Best Companies for Sustainable Growth 2025 by TIME and Statista, ranking No. 10 among U.S. companies.

This commitment is backed by concrete numbers, which is what matters to a realist. In 2024 alone, their products were responsible for saving 32.5 billion gallons of water and preventing the need for 19 billion single-use plastic water bottles. That's a massive environmental and customer-cost impact. Plus, their operational efficiency is improving: they've achieved a 38% reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) intensity since their 2021 baseline. This isn't just good for the planet; it reduces their operating costs, which helps keep their Adjusted EBITDA margins high-they hit 26.5% of net sales in Q2 2025.

Core Component 3: Delivering Innovation and Creating Shareholder Value

Finally, the mission must deliver value for shareholders; otherwise, it's just a nice idea. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's strategy is to innovate in their product ecosystem to drive superior financial returns. Their focus on the Zurn Elkay Business System (ZEBS) ensures continuous improvement (a Six Sigma-like approach) and supply chain optimization, which is key to maintaining price-cost positivity even with trade uncertainties.

Their innovation is what keeps their free cash flow strong, which is the ultimate measure of a company's financial health. The company is projecting full-year 2025 free cash flow to be approximately $300 million. This cash generation allows them to return capital to investors. For instance, in Q1 2025, they deployed $77 million to repurchase 2.3 million shares of common stock and returned an additional $15 million to shareholders in dividends. That's a clear action mapping their mission to shareholder returns. For more on how this all fits together, you should check out Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (ZWS): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (ZWS) Vision Statement

You're looking for the North Star at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (ZWS), and it's clear: their vision is a powerful, three-part commitment that maps directly to their financial performance. It's not just corporate fluff; it's a strategic roadmap that drives their growth, particularly in the high-margin commercial and institutional sectors. The core takeaway is that their focus on sustainability and health is directly fueling their revenue, which hit a trailing 12-month (TTM) figure of $1.66 billion ending September 30, 2025.

Safest and Most Efficient Water Solutions

The first pillar of their aspiration is to provide the safest and most efficient water solutions. This is where the rubber meets the road for investors, as efficiency translates directly into market share gains and pricing power. When you look at their Q1 2025 net sales of $389 million, which was a 4% increase year-over-year, it shows that customers are willing to pay a premium for solutions that reduce water and energy consumption over the long term. This focus on product quality is buttressed by their Core Value of 'Continuous improvement,' which keeps their product line defintely ahead of the curve.

• Drive product innovation for water conservation.
• Ensure product reliability to minimize maintenance costs.
• Maintain a relentless focus on world-class quality.

This commitment to efficiency is a major reason why the company's full-year 2025 outlook for Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) was raised to a range of $420 million to $430 million. That's a strong signal of operational leverage at play.

Promote Human Health

The second, and perhaps most empathetic, part of the vision is the drive to promote human health. This is a huge growth vector, especially with increased regulatory scrutiny on water quality in schools and commercial buildings across the US. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions's portfolio, particularly their hydration and drinking water products, directly addresses this need. For example, the demand for filtered bottle-filling stations and touchless fixtures is a tangible manifestation of this vision. This is a clear, actionable goal. The Core Value of 'Customers first' is the human engine here, ensuring product design prioritizes the end-user's well-being.

Here's the quick math: the focus on health-related products, like those for clean drinking water, helps secure recurring revenue streams from maintenance and replacement cycles. This stability contributes to the expected full-year 2025 free cash flow of approximately $300 million, a critical metric for long-term shareholder value. You can read more about the financial implications of this strategy in Breaking Down Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (ZWS) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Increase Positive Impacts on the Environment

Finally, the vision explicitly calls for increasing positive impacts on the environment. This is their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy in a nutshell: they are 'Sustainably Inspired.' This isn't a side project; it's baked into their business model, from low-flow fixtures to roof drains that manage storm water. In Q3 2025, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions reported revenue of $455.40 million, an 11.07% jump year-over-year, which suggests that the market is rewarding this sustainability-driven product line.

What this estimate hides is the long-term risk mitigation that comes with this focus. By aligning their products with conservation, they future-proof the business against stricter environmental regulations. This vision is supported by the Core Value of 'Integrity in everything we do,' ensuring their ESG claims are non-negotiable and verifiable. This environmental commitment is a major differentiator in the competitive landscape, making Zurn Elkay Water Solutions the 'unrivaled leader in water solutions' as they state in their corporate overview.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (ZWS) Core Values

You're looking for a clear map of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation's (ZWS) operational DNA, and you should. Core values aren't just posters on a wall; they're the non-negotiable filters for capital allocation and strategic decisions. For ZWS, a company celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2025, these values are directly tied to their financial performance and their position as a pure-play water business. Their commitment to these principles is what drove the raised full-year 2025 Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) outlook to between $420 million and $430 million, up from the previous range. That's a tangible return on culture.

Here's the quick math: a strong culture reduces execution risk. When a company's values are clear, its strategy is easier to implement. ZWS's five core values-Customer First, Integrity In Everything We Do, Continuous Improvement, Total Associate Engagement, and Culture Of Winning-show exactly where they're focusing their energy and investment dollars.

Customer First

This value is about more than just good service; it's about delivering solutions that solve the customer's most complex problems, especially around health and sustainability. For Zurn Elkay Water Solutions, this means ensuring their product portfolio is built for water conservation and safety. Honesty, you can't be a leader in water solutions without prioritizing the end-user's well-being.

The proof is in the product mix. More than 86% of the company's revenue comes from products designed to conserve water, reduce energy, and protect clean water sources. This isn't a marketing claim; it's a financial driver. The company also launched a Total Cost of Ownership and Sustainability Calculator in 2024 to give customers a clear view of the environmental and economic benefits of choosing ZWS products. Plus, through the Fountains for Youth program, they donate filtered bottle filling stations to school districts with high lead levels and low resources, directly addressing a critical public health need.

Integrity In Everything We Do

The guiding principle here is 'Simply Do the Right Thing.' This value underpins their entire approach to governance and risk management. For a company in the critical water infrastructure space, integrity is the foundation of trust with municipalities, contractors, and investors. You defintely want to see this as a top priority.

This commitment is enforced through strict standards. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions requires 100% of associates to be trained annually on the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. Furthermore, their supply chain sustainability program includes rigorous supplier screenings and audits, which is crucial for maintaining product quality and mitigating ethical sourcing risks. They also have a goal to reach 8% of spending with diverse businesses by 2025, demonstrating that integrity extends to their economic impact and supplier diversity.

Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement is the engine that drives ZWS's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and, consequently, their financial efficiency. It's about setting aggressive, measurable targets and beating them. They don't just talk about sustainability; they invest in it.

The numbers here are compelling. ZWS set a goal to invest a total of $90 million by 2025 in engineering and Research & Development (R&D) specifically to enhance the sustainable attributes of their products. Operationally, they've already surpassed key targets, achieving a 23% reduction in energy intensity and a 38% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity since their 2021 baseline. That's real cost savings and a lower environmental footprint. The company is also on track to prevent the use of at least 15 billion single-use plastic bottles annually through consumer use of their drinking water products.

Total Associate Engagement

A company's people are its most valuable, and often most volatile, asset. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions knows this, so they focus on creating a workplace where associates feel empowered and invested. This is their strategy for talent retention and high productivity.

In 2025, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions was recognized as a Top Workplace USA, an award based entirely on employee feedback. This validates their efforts, which include an expansion of professional development opportunities that resulted in an all-time high of 18.6 hours of formal training per associate on average in 2024. They also offer associates 1% of their annual company time to volunteer, which is a tangible benefit that connects their people to the company's broader mission. This focus on engagement helps maintain the high-performing team that delivered an 8% core sales growth in the second quarter of 2025.

Culture Of Winning

The Culture of Winning is the synthesis of the other four values, translating purpose into market performance. It's about being a leader, not just a participant, in the water solutions market. This value is reflected in their financial stability and market recognition.

The company's strong financial health is a direct result of this culture. As of June 30, 2025, ZWS reduced its net debt leverage to a very manageable 0.7x. Furthermore, the company was named one of the World's Best Companies for Sustainable Growth 2025 by TIME and Statista, ranking No. 31 overall and No. 10 among U.S. companies. This external validation confirms that their values-driven approach is translating into superior, sustainable financial performance. If you want to dive deeper into the metrics that support this culture, you should read Breaking Down Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (ZWS) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.