Mueller Water Products, Inc.

We consider backlog to represent orders placed by customers for which goods or services have yet to be shipped. Backlog is a meaningful indicator for many of our product lines. The delivery lead time for certain product lines such as specialty valves can be longer than one year, and we expect approximately 22% of Water Flow Solutions’ backlog at the end of 2025 will be shipped after 2026. Water Management Solutions manufactures or sources water meter systems that are sometimes ordered in large quantities with delivery dates over several years. We expect approximately 4% of Water Management Solutions’ backlog at the end of 2025 will be shipped after 2026. Due to increased demand, particularly for specialty valve and hydrant products, we experienced an increase in our overall backlog compared to the prior year. Backlog for Water Flow Solutions and Water Management Solutions are as follows:

Sales cycles for metering systems often extend over several years, and customers typically place orders incrementally throughout the contract term. While we believe we share a mutual understanding with the customer regarding the total contract value at the time of award, orders are reflected in our backlog once a formal order is received, not when the contract is awarded.