Mueller Systems

Mueller Systems is a United States water-metering and utility-technology business operating within Mueller Water Products. Its portfolio includes residential, commercial, and fire-line meters, together with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), automated meter reading (AMR), remote leak detection, communications networks, customer data tools, and related products for water and, in some deployments, electric utilities. The business is associated with one of the oldest continuous histories in American water-meter manufacturing. The company traces its origins to the Hawes and Hersey Company, established in Boston in 1859. The early business manufactured bolts, rotary pumps, and other machinery rather than focusing exclusively on meters. A major technical turning point came in 1885, when the company received a patent for a rotary displacement meter. It began selling rotary and disc water meters the following year under the Hersey Meter Company name. This established the Hersey name as a long-running meter brand, one that remains part of Mueller Systems' water-meter offering. In 1959, Hersey Meters merged with Sparling Meter Company and became Hersey-Sparling Meter Company. The organization later came under Mueller Co., a Mueller Water Products subsidiary. In 1988 it resumed operating under the Hersey Meters name within the Mueller organization. Mueller Water Products acquired Arkion Systems in 2009, bringing together Hersey's traditional meter business and Arkion's broader utility-management and communications capabilities. The combined operation adopted the Mueller Systems name in 2010 to reflect its expanded scope, although Hersey Meters continued as the product brand for water meters. Mueller Systems' technology proposition centers on connecting physical meters with communications and software. Its Mi.Net AMI platform is designed to support two-way communication between meters, utility systems, and control devices. Such systems can automate meter reading, improve billing workflows, identify unusual consumption, provide leak alerts, and give customers access to usage information. The company has also marketed Hot Rod AMR, MegaNet, Mi.Data, Mi.Hydrants, Mi.Echo, remote-disconnect meters, and related equipment. These offerings are intended to help utilities reduce manual reading costs, improve operational visibility, manage service remotely, and encourage conservation. Reference material describes deployments and pilots in municipalities and utility districts across the United States. Examples include large meter replacement and AMI projects in Kannapolis, North Carolina; Weatherford, Oklahoma; Yonkers, New York; and Maumee, Ohio, as well as smaller or specialized deployments in Hudson Oaks, Texas, Frankfort, New York, and West Virginia. Case studies also describe the use of Mueller systems to support leak detection, consumption monitoring, customer portals, and more efficient billing. These examples position the brand primarily as an infrastructure and utility-services supplier rather than a consumer-facing household brand. Mueller Systems' current corporate structure, exact headquarters, ownership details beyond its relationship with Mueller Water Products, and present product lineup are not fully specified in the supplied reference material. Its historical identity, however, is clear: it combines a nineteenth-century American water-meter manufacturing heritage with acquired communications, data, and utility-management technologies.

Mueller Systems' history begins with the Hawes and Hersey Company, founded in Boston in 1859. The original enterprise manufactured bolts, rotary pumps, and other machinery. Its later specialization in water measurement followed an 1885 patent for a rotary displacement meter. In 1886, the company began offering rotary and disc water meters under the Hersey Meter Company name. The Hersey business remained associated with water meters for decades. In 1959, Hersey Meters merged with Sparling Meter Company and operated as Hersey-Sparling Meter Company. The company subsequently became part of the Mueller organization. In 1988, after being placed under Mueller Co., it resumed the Hersey Meters name. This history explains why Hersey Meters remained a product identity after the wider Mueller Systems organization was created. Mueller Water Products' acquisition of Arkion Systems in 2009 was the next major structural change. Arkion brought capabilities related to utility management, communications, and metering systems. Hersey and Arkion were combined, and the resulting business began operating as Mueller Systems in 2010. The new name signaled a portfolio broader than conventional water meters, while Hersey Meters continued to identify the company's water-meter products. The resulting business has supplied traditional meters alongside AMR and AMI technologies. Its Mi.Net platform connects meters and utility infrastructure through a two-way communications network, allowing utilities to automate readings, improve billing, monitor unusual usage, and share consumption information with customers. Other offerings described in reference material include Hot Rod AMR, MegaNet, Mi.Data, Mi.Hydrants, Mi.Echo, and remote-disconnect meters. Municipal deployments illustrate the practical development of the portfolio. In Frankfort, New York, a meter replacement project funded through a 2009 community development grant incorporated Mueller's AMI system. In South Mesa, California, Hot Rod AMR was used to reduce manual meter-reading time and support conservation efforts. Maumee, Ohio, planned a Mi.Net deployment with thousands of meters and customer usage tools. Weatherford, Oklahoma, replaced approximately 5,500 water meters and used Mi.Net to improve reading, billing, leak detection, and customer service. Kannapolis, North Carolina, installed approximately 18,000 meters, including remote-disconnect models, and added Mi.Data. Yonkers, New York, announced a larger modernization project involving MegaNet and approximately 30,000 meters. West Virginia American Water separately announced a Mi.Echo leak-detection deployment along the Kanawha Valley River. These projects show the brand's evolution from a meter manufacturer into a supplier of connected utility infrastructure. The available material does not establish a complete current corporate history, present leadership roster, detailed financial performance, or an independently operated website. Mueller Systems is nevertheless documented as a Mueller Water Products subsidiary with an active role in metering and utility-management products.

• 2014

  Kannapolis implemented a large Mueller metering upgrade

  [1]Mueller Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Kannapolis installed approximately 18,000 Mueller Systems water meters and associated AMI and customer-information tools.

• 2010

  Mueller Systems launched as the combined operating identity

  [1]Mueller Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  The combined Hersey and Arkion operation adopted Mueller Systems to represent its broader product scope.

• 2009

  Mueller Water Products acquired Arkion Systems

  [1]Mueller Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  The acquisition created the basis for combining Arkion's utility-management capabilities with the Hersey meter business.

• 1988

  Return to the Hersey Meters name

  [1]Mueller Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  After entering the Mueller organization, the business resumed operating as Hersey Meters.

• 1959

  Merger with Sparling Meter Company

  [1]Mueller Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Hersey Meters merged with Sparling Meter Company and adopted the Hersey-Sparling Meter Company name.

• 1886

  First Hersey water meters sold

  [1]Mueller Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Rotary and disc meters began being sold under the Hersey Meter Company name.

• 1885

  Rotary displacement meter patent

  [1]Mueller Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  The company received a patent for a rotary displacement meter, establishing the technical basis for its water-meter business.

• 1859

  Hawes and Hersey Company founded

  [1]Mueller Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  The predecessor company was established in Boston and initially manufactured bolts, pumps, and other machinery.

A utility-infrastructure and metering technology provider combining long-established water-meter manufacturing with AMI, AMR, communications, leak-detection, remote-service, and customer-information capabilities.

• Water meters · 1886

  Hersey Meters

  Hersey Meters is the continuing water-meter product identity within Mueller Systems. Its history reaches back to the rotary and disc meters sold by the Hersey Meter Company beginning in the nineteenth century. The line serves conventional residential, commercial, and related water-measurement applications and represents the manufacturing heritage incorporated into the broader Mueller Systems portfolio.

• Advanced metering infrastructure

  Mi.Net AMI System

  Mi.Net is a two-way advanced metering infrastructure platform linking meters, distribution sites, and control devices with a utility data center. It is designed to automate readings, improve billing processes, identify abnormal usage and possible leaks, and provide utilities with more timely operational information. Customer-facing deployments can also expose usage and billing data through online tools.

• Automated meter reading

  Hot Rod AMR System

  Hot Rod is an automated meter-reading system intended to reduce the labor and time required to collect water-meter readings. A South Mesa Water Company deployment used the system to support faster reading, earlier leak identification, and more detailed consumption information. The system was also presented as a tool for helping utilities and customers respond to conservation requirements.

• Fixed-network AMI

  MegaNet System

  MegaNet is a high-powered, long-range fixed-network AMI communications system. Reference material describes it as a platform used to connect widely distributed meters with utility operations, including a large planned deployment in Yonkers. Its value proposition is reliable long-range communications for meter data and related utility-management functions.

• Customer utility portal

  Mi.Data

  Mi.Data is a customer-facing portal associated with Mueller Systems metering deployments. It gives utility customers access to water-usage and billing information and can support consumption goals and alerts. Utilities use the tool to improve communication with households and to make meter data more actionable for conservation and service management.

• Remote leak detection

  Mi.Echo

  Mi.Echo is a remote leak-detection system for identifying potential problems in water networks. West Virginia American Water announced a deployment along a ten-mile river corridor involving several communities. The system is intended to give utilities earlier visibility into leaks and support more responsive infrastructure management.

• Remote-disconnect water meter

  420 Remote Disconnect Meter

  The 420 Remote Disconnect Meter is an integrated meter designed to allow a utility to manage water service remotely through the Mi.Net network. It was included in Kannapolis's modernization program, where the technology supported remote service control alongside automated reading and customer usage information.

• Utility communications

  Mi.Hydrants

  Mi.Hydrants is a Mueller Systems technology referenced in connection with Weatherford, Oklahoma. It was used to help address transmission challenges associated with steel meter boxes and long distances between some meters, extending the effectiveness of the utility's broader AMI deployment.

• 2010

  Expansion from meters into connected utility managementStrategy

  Background

  The business needed an identity that represented AMI, AMR, communications, customer-information, and leak-detection products in addition to physical water meters.

  Action taken

  Mueller Systems was established as the broader operating brand, with Hersey Meters retained for water-meter products.

  Aftermath

  The brand was positioned as a supplier of connected utility infrastructure rather than solely as a conventional meter manufacturer.

  Source

• 2009

  Integration of Arkion SystemsM&A

  Background

  Mueller Water Products acquired Arkion Systems while already owning the Hersey meter business. The combination created an opportunity to unite traditional meter manufacturing with broader utility-management and communications capabilities.

  Action taken

  Mueller combined Arkion with Hersey under the Mueller Systems operating identity.

  Aftermath

  The combined business adopted the Mueller Systems name in 2010, while Hersey Meters continued as the water-meter brand.

  Source

1. 1Mueller Systemsen.wikipedia.org