How the Pump Industry Handled COVID-19 and Its Aftermath

The year 2020 was unprecedented, to put it mildly. As a country — like the rest of the world — it was a period of loss, grief, learning, and growth. The Coronavirus pandemic — COVID-19 — hit the U.S. in the spring, and as a result, the industrial and manufacturing sectors were hit hard from all directions. This post helps explain how the pump industry handled COVID-19 and its lasting effects.

Many people began working from home and juggling a chaotic work-life balance as schools and daycares shut down. Safety precautions like curfews, mandatory quarantine, mask-wearing, and frequent hand washing were put in place as commodities like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes flew off the shelves at record paces to the point of widespread shortages. And the 2020 election saw a shift in power in the White House as Democrat Joe Biden was declared the winner over Republican incumbent Donald Trump.

The pump industry, especially, was affected in many ways.

PumpsandSystems.com published an article recently detailing how different industries handled the pandemic, including:

• Oil and gas
• Water and wastewater
• Power generation
• Building services

All of which, of course, depend on pump manufacturing, distribution, and repair services.

According to, Editorial Advisory Board Member Chris Wilder (who was quoted in the article), his company shifted operations considerably in March 2020 to comply with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s guidelines for operating during the global pandemic.

“’We eliminated visitors into our headquarters, limited the number of allowable entrances to the building and added sanitizing stations throughout our facility and disinfectant spray and paper towels in break rooms. That’s in addition to modified workspaces with social distancing,’” Wilder said in the article.

According to Pumps & Systems, he also said that field experts were also limited in their visits to facilities.

Of course, this reaction and approach was not unique to one company. Many companies experienced a decline in sales while doing their best to protect the health and wellbeing of their staff.

Read the full article on PumpsandSystems.com to learn how the pump industry handled COVID-19, as well as how other industries and companies adjusted their business practices to survive the pandemic.