REHAU Group announced it has suspended operations in Russia, due to the development of the crisis and the suffering of the people in Ukraine. REHAU said its priority is the safety of its colleagues and their families in Ukraine and those that are leaving the country. The company began preparing possible contingency plans some time ago.

Due to continued and unprecedented escalation in raw materials and transportation costs, Matco-Norca announced it will be implementing a 21% price increase on Schedule 90 PVC Pipe Nipples.

January 2022 results of ASA’s monthly sales report reflect another month of robust performance compared to the same month a year ago, though most respondents reported declines in sales when compared to December 2021, noted Industry Insights, ASA’s business intelligence partner that prepares the report each month for ASA member distributors. 

Several Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI) members and PMI’s federal government affairs consultant will address the industry’s most urgent water and regulatory issues at the 2022 Emerging Water Technology Symposium (EWTS). The event will take place from May 11-12, in San Antonio, Texas. Early bird registration runs to March 15.

One of the father-daughter activities myself and said daughter enjoy is listening to music on car rides, specifically anything in the 1970s-1980s genre. Apparently, my daughter is a teenager going on 40 years old. Her tastes range from The Carpenters to Twisted Sister and Vanilla Ice. Like father like daughter. As we were listening to a recent Motley Crue song, she indicated the band had a lot of hidden gems on B-sides of albums. Who would have known? That a today’s teenager knows what a B-side album is, now that’s impressive. “Too Young To Fall in Love” is one of my favorite underrated Crue songs, though I’m not sure if that was a B-sider or not.

In October 2021, OSHA released preliminary data for the top 10 most-cited standards in fiscal year 2021. The data includes violations cited between Oct. 1, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021. The preliminary data was presented at the 2021 NSC Safety Congress and Expo by Patrick Kapust, deputy director of the Directorate of Enforcement Programs at OSHA.

NIBCO announced its Wrot Racer “Start Me Up” promotion to celebrate its next generation of push fittings that it recently launched. The multi-faceted promotion centers on the Wrot Racer C8 Corvette that will tour the U.S., making stops at distributor locations that have qualified. 

Ferguson's Business Development team recently donated nearly $520,000 worth of new tools to SkillsUSA state chapters, Rebuilding Together affiliates and Good360.

Viega's new line of MegaPressG valves in sizes 1/2" to 2" are suitable for use with ASTM Schedule 5 to Schedule 40 carbon steel pipe.

Backflow Direct has announced the launch of its updated and improved eCommerce store. This new site allows customers to order the products they need, but now with an even better user experience.