Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation (NYSE: ZWS) and Erie’s Public Schools (EPS) today announced the donation of 50 Elkay filtered bottle filling stations, eight filter conversion kits and five years of Elkay filters for each of the donated units, ensuring consistent delivery of cleaner, healthier, safer drinking water to students, faculty, staff and community members.
In an event at EPS’s JoAnna Connell Elementary School, 1820 E. 38th Street, Mayor Joe Schember, incoming EPS Superintendent Natalyn Gibbs, EdD, and Zurn Elkay Chairman and CEO Todd A. Adams celebrated the donation with a class of first-grade students. This summer, the donated units will be installed across nine EPS elementary schools, replacing unfiltered drinking fountains with one filtered bottle filling station per 100 students; EPS has four Elkay filtered bottle filling stations already slated for installation at the new Edison Elementary School, set to open in Fall 2025. Additionally, all faucets in EPS’s Culinary Center will be retrofitted to Elkay filtration, using donated conversion kits and filter cartridges.
“As an urban school district that serves roughly 10,000 students and their families, it is important that Erie’s Public Schools is a leader in the charge to provide access to clean, lead-free water,” Dr. Gibbs said. “We are so grateful to our partners at Zurn Elkay Water Solutions for their incredibly generous donation, which helps us deliver the kind of healthy school environments that students need to thrive.”
Elkay filters are tested and certified to NSF/ANSI 42, 53 and 401 to reduce lead, PFAS (PFOA/PFOS), microplastics and other harmful contaminants. Since 2012, the use of Elkay bottle filling stations has eliminated the need for more than 103 billion single-use plastic bottles.
“For kids across the country, including right here in Erie, school buildings are more than just places for learning and social growth-they’re also a vital source of drinking water,” said Adams. “Elkay filtered bottle filling stations and drinking fountains are an immediate and cost-effective solution to expensive and laborious infrastructure upgrades. We are so proud of our Erie heritage and that is why we are making this donation to help ensure that students, teachers and staff members have access to cleaner, healthier, safer drinking water.”
The donation is part of Zurn Elkay’s yearlong celebration of the 125th anniversary of the company’s founding in Erie. In 1900, the ambitious 26-year-old John A. Zurn purchased the patent and casts for a backwater valve from the local foundry and set up shop in his mother’s barn in Erie. His entrepreneurial spirit, quest for growth and commitment to meeting-and exceeding-his customers’ needs formed the foundation of today’s Zurn Elkay Water Solutions. During the week of May 19-23, the company is commemorating the milestone with employee celebrations at its more than two dozen locations across the United States, including in Erie, where more than 160 associates are based.
“For 125 years Zurn Elkay’s associates have contributed to Erie’s enduring legacy as a city that balances its commitment to its people, the potential of its industry, and the preservation of its natural resources,” Mayor Schember said, issuing a proclamation of May 22, 2025, as “Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Day” in the City of Erie. “We are fortunate to have such a successful business in Erie, and I wish Zurn Elkay many more years of continued success.”
“John A. Zurn had the vision and the drive to prevent contamination of water sources … but he didn’t do it alone,” Adams added. “He had a family, friends, partners and a community to support him, and we’re honored to have been part of that community for 125 years.”
