ITT Inc.’s Goulds Pumps is celebrating their 170th anniversary this year. Officially kicked off on April 10, with the seventh-annual Pump Appreciation Day, a global event held to raise awareness of the value of pumps to modern manufacturing and products, and honor those that make them possible.
The history of Goulds Pumps’ innovation started in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York when it produced its first water pump, made of wood and banded with metal. A year later, during the Gold Rush in California, the company produced the world’s first all-metal pump, a significant innovation that helped shape industrialization.
“Since then, Goulds Pumps has been developing engineered solutions that help our customers pump the most corrosive materials, monitor their rotating equipment and control their pumps, with the goal of improving efficiency and equipment total cost of ownership,” says David Malinas, president of ITT Industrial Process.
Several of these innovations are industry firsts including the extensive series of ANSI process pumps, XHD next generation slurry pump, VICR compact vertical multi-stage low flow pump and the i-ALERT® asset intelligence monitoring solution.
“We have been observing Pump Appreciation Day on the second Tuesday of April since 2012, to recognize the importance of pumps that are essential machines but unsung workers in running a plant. We also pay tribute to companies and their pump professionals who continuously look at ways to improve pump efficiencies and lower total cost of ownership," he said.
“We also take the opportunity to pay tribute to the people and organizations that design, manufacture, install and service them. The men, women and organizations that help drive modern manufacturing forward,” he added.
This year, 14 organizations and their representatives will be presented with the Heart and Pulse of Industry Award. This award recognizes companies, plants and individuals whose operational excellence and use of pump technology advance plant processing, customer service and our overall way of life through improved reliability, efficiency and lower cost of ownership.
In addition to Pump Appreciation Day events and award programs, an online World of Pumps Quiz launched today that tests participants’ knowledge of the pump industry and its products through one question a week for the next 20 weeks. Last year’s quiz attracted close to 11,000 unique visitors from 90 countries.