Brochure

History of Wayne Water Systems

In 1928, Norbert G. Berghoff founded the Wayne

Home Equipment Company located in Fort Wayne,

Indiana. The Berghoff family was also known for

owning and operating the famous Berghoff Brewery

in Fort Wayne.

Wayne Home Equipment manufactured oil

burners for use in home furnaces, water and space

heaters, boilers, and industrial ovens. Wayne became

quite successful in the oil burner business, but faced

the challenge that oil burners were seasonal in nature.

Fall and winter months became the high produc-

tion periods for oil burners, creating the need for a

complementary product that would increase Wayne’s

business in the spring and summer months. Man-

ufacturing water pumps became the solution of the

balance out this seasonality.

In the 1940s, Wayne entered the water pump

industry by acquiring the Zepher Pump

Company, located in Decatur, Illinois. Wayne moved

the Zepher facility to Fort Wayne, with its oil burner

division to reduce manufacturing and transportation

costs. In 1978, the Berghoff family made the deci-

sion to sell their home equipment company to the

Scott Fetzer corporation. The Wayne Home Equip-

ment Company remained in Fort Wayne, until August

of 1991, when it moved to Harrison, OH where it

operates today as part of Scott Fetzer Consumer

Brands.

With more than 70 years in the business, Wayne

has become a dominant brand in the water pump

industry. We continue to bring market leading inno-

vation to homeowners who need worry-free water

handling solutions.

WAYNE offers a full line of basement protection

systems, sump, multi-use, sewage, efﬂuent, well, lawn,

pool, specialty pumps and systems, and

accessories. Our business team is customer

focused, continuously developing innovative products

for homeowners, creating packaging and merchan-

dising to make the in-store

experience easier, providing fast delivery and superior

after-the-sale support.