Flint & Walling Inc. is celebrating 140 years in the water business in 2006. The company was established in 1866 by Simeon Flint and David Walling, and originally built windmills and hand-operated water pumps, one of which can still be found on the original campus of the University of Notre Dame. Currently, the company is a privately owned subsidiary of Zoeller Co.
The company long ago moved from hand-operated water pumps to an extensive line of water pumps, including jet, centrifugal, pressure booster, submersible, turbine, lawn sprinkler and fountain pond pumps, along with other products such as city-water pressure boosting systems. Flint & Walling also offers an exclusive line of water conditioning products under the Premier brand name.
Throughout its 140-year history, Flint & Walling has made claim to some notable “first” contributions to the water products industry. In the early 1930s, Flint & Walling pioneered the shallow well piston pump. The company also built
the first horizontal pump in the industry - the F&W “bullet” pump, as well as the first cartridge seal, first convertible jet pump and first horizontal pump tank system. Flint & Walling also is the first and only pump company in North America to manufacture its own electric jet pump motors.
Aside from water products, the company has made notable contributions to American history. Flint & Walling is known for its windmills, and although the company no longer makes windmills, F&W windmills still can be found throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. During World War II, journalist Ernie Pyle wrote that seeing F&W windmills abroad reminded the American troops of home. Flint & Walling was also able to support America's war effort during WWII when the company converted its Kendallville facility to manufacture 20-millimeter tracer shells and casings, an effort for which the company received the Army-Navy Award of Excellence, which still is on display at Flint & Walling's facility in Kendallville, Ind.
