The History of American Turbine Pump

In December of 2012, the American Turbine Pump company was acquired by National Pump Company. American Turbine Pump products complement National Pump’s product line by increasing availability of product and model type for a variety of applications. Since its founding, American Turbine Pump believed in producing a product that demanded top quality, dependability and efficiency. Those standards still hold true today. American Turbine continues to produce some of the most energy-efficient vertical turbines and submersible pumps available in the world.

The story of American Turbine began in 1936 when a family business was created to install pumps in the West Texas plains. Nathan Fox was a “wildcat” oil driller who enjoyed taking chances and exploring for oil in unknown areas. He became a successful oil driller and passed his knowledge onto his sons. By the late 1940’s the second generation of oil drillers emerged with Nathan’s sons Doc, J.D., and brother-in-law Bob Bowron. They drilled water wells under the name of Fox Brothers and Bowron Drilling Company. Three generations of pump experience later, the founders of American Turbine began looking for a way to make existing pumps more efficient. It became apparent that the only way of doing this effectively would be for the family business to begin manufacturing their own line of pumps. In July of 1975 the third generation’s dream of becoming pump manufacturers was realized. American Turbine Pump Company, Inc. was founded in Lubbock, Texas, combining decades of experience in the pump industry. Through the years American Turbine expanded its growing production capabilities to accommodate municipal water supply, industrial, agricultural, waste water, booster systems, mine dewatering, HVAC, cooling towers, turf irrigation, water amusement parks, fish hatcheries, and snow making applications. In 1979 American Turbine opened an engineering and sales facility in Houston to provide sales support in the heart of the industrial community. The Houston location also served as a strategic distribution point for the international markets. As growth continued, a California location opened in1992 as a sales, distribution, and service facility for California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Alaska and Hawaii.