Erie's Public Schools and Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Announce Donation for Cleaner, Healthier, Safer Drinking Water
- This summer Erie's Public Schools (EPS) will install 50 donated Elkay filtered bottle filling stations in nine elementary schools and convert all faucets at the district's Culinary Center, ensuring cleaner, healthier, safer drinking water.
- Donated Elkay filters are tested and certified to reduce lead, PFAS, microplastics and other harmful contaminants.
- Donation is part of Zurn Elkay's yearlong celebration of the 125th anniversary of the company's founding in Erie, home to 160 associates and three manufacturing and R&D facilities.
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.
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"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 Zurn Elkay chairman and CEO Todd A. 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."
In an event at EPS's JoAnna Connell Elementary School, 1820 E. 38th Street, Mayor Joseph V. 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."
For photos and video from today's announcement, please visit
zurnelkay.com/press-room/press-kits.
About Erie's Public Schools
Erie's Public Schools consists of 16 schools that serve approximately 10,000 students each day. By actively engaging students in their learning through a high-quality, Common Core-aligned curriculum and excellent teaching, Erie's Public Schools is raising expectations and creating a culture of high expectations, collaboration, respect and accountability. Our primary objective is to prepare city students to establish and achieve their higher education and career goals. We invite you to explore www.eriesd.org to discover how the district is partnering with families and the community to improve students' lives.
About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions
Named one of America's Most Responsible Companies and one of America's Greenest Companies by Newsweek and one of the World's Best Companies for Sustainable Growth by TIME, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions is headquartered in Milwaukee, WI, and is a growth-oriented, pure-play water management business that designs, procures, manufactures and markets what we believe to be the broadest sustainable product portfolio of specification-driven water management solutions to improve health, hydration, human safety and the environment. The Zurn Elkay product portfolio includes professional grade water safety and control products, flow systems products, hygienic and environmental products and filtered drinking water products for public and private spaces. Learn more at www.zurnelkay.com.
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Erica Erwin, Coordinator - PR & Strategic Communications
Erie's Public Schools
[email protected] / 814-874-6035
Angela Hersil, VP - Corporate Communications
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions
[email protected] / 855-480-5050
Kyle Hannon, Director - Communications
City of Erie
[email protected] / 814-870-1285