Company: MWA
Filing Date: 2025-11-19
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001350593-25-000066
Chunk: 320

Company: Mueller Water Products, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-11-19
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 7
Chunk 320
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 that particular product.  Additionally, a significant increase in costs to repair or replace could require additional warranty expense.  We monitor and analyze our warranty experience and costs periodically and revise our warranty accrual as necessary.  However, as we cannot predict actual future claims, the potential exists for the difference in any one reporting period to be material. 

Contingencies

We are involved in litigation, investigations and claims arising in the normal course of business.  We estimate and accrue liabilities resulting from such matters based on a variety of factors, including outstanding legal claims and proposed settlements; assessments by legal counsel of pending or threatened litigation; and assessments of potential environmental liabilities and remediation costs.  We believe we have adequately accrued for these potential liabilities; however, facts and circumstances may change and could cause the actual liability to exceed estimates, or may require adjustments to the recorded liability balances in the future.  As we learn new facts concerning contingencies, we reassess our position both with respect to accrued liabilities and other potential exposures.  Estimates particularly sensitive to future changes include liabilities recorded for environmental remediation, tax and legal matters.  Estimated future environmental remediation costs are subject to change as a result of such factors as the uncertain magnitude of cleanup costs, the unknown time and extent of such remedial actions that may be required, and the determination of our liability in proportion to that of other responsible parties.  Estimated future costs related to tax and legal matters are subject to change as events evolve and as additional information becomes available during the administrative and litigation processes.  For more information on these and other contingencies, see Note 15. of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.  See also “Item 1.  BUSINESS - Regulatory and Environmental Matters,” “Item 1A.  RISK FACTORS.”

Workers’ Compensation, Defined Benefit Pension Plans, Environmental and Other Long-term Liabilities

We are obligated for various liabilities that ultimately will be determined over what could be very long future time periods, including workers’ compensation, defined benefit pension plan and environmental liabilities.  We established the recorded liabilities for such items as of September 30, 2025 using estimates for when such amounts will be paid and what the amounts of such payments will be.  These estimates are subject to change based on numerous factors including, among others, claim development, regulatory changes, technology changes, the investment performance of related assets, longevity of participants, the discount rate used and changes to plan designs.

Item 7A.QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISC