Exhibit 99.1

  WALTER INDUSTRIES ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS ACQUISITION

TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Walter Industries, Inc. (NYSE:
WLT) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Mueller Water
Products (Mueller), a leading supplier of flow control products for the water
infrastructure industry.

"We are delighted to announce the closing of this strategic transaction for
Walter Industries and our shareholders," said Company Chairman and CEO Gregory
E. Hyland. "The acquisition of Mueller, combined with U.S. Pipe, gives us
meaningful scale in the water infrastructure market which we believe will
continue to be a growth industry for many years to come."

The Company said it continues to expect the acquisition to be accretive by $0.20
to $0.24 per diluted share in the first full year after closing, excluding
integration-related impacts and effects of purchase accounting. Integration
benefits of $25 - $35 million are expected on a run-rate basis within the first
24 months and could be substantially higher as further production, purchasing
and sales improvements are realized.

Walter Industries will provide fourth quarter earnings expectations, including
expected earnings resulting from the Mueller transaction, when it reports its
third quarter results on Oct. 26, 2005. These earnings expectations will include
an estimate of the impact from purchase accounting adjustments and
integration-related charges.

As part of the transaction, Walter Industries and Mueller Group entered into new
credit facility agreements, arranged by Banc of America Securities, LLC and
Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., consisting of:

* $675 million in senior secured credit facilities by Walter Industries,
comprised of a $450 million term loan and a $225 million bank revolver.

* $1.195 billion in senior secured credit facilities by Mueller Group, comprised
of a $1.05 billion term loan and a $145 million bank revolver.

The new term loans and initial draws from the revolvers were used to purchase
Mueller, refinance outstanding bank debt and pay transaction expenses. Going
forward, the balance of the revolvers will be used for general corporate
purposes.

About Walter Industries

Walter Industries, Inc. is a diversified company with annual revenues of $2.5
billion. The Company is a leader in water infrastructure, flow control and water
transmission products, with respected brand names such as Mueller, U.S. Pipe,
James Jones, Hersey Meters, Henry Pratt and Anvil. The Company is also a
significant producer of high-quality metallurgical coal and natural gas for
worldwide markets and is a leader in affordable homebuilding and financing.
Based in Tampa, Fla., the Company employs approximately 10,600 people. For more
information about Walter Industries, please visit the Company Web site at
http://www.walterind.com .



Safe Harbor Statement

Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in this
release are forward-looking and made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's
actual results in future periods to differ materially from forecasted results.
Those risks include, among others, changes in customers' demand for the
Company's products, changes in raw material, labor, equipment and transportation
costs and availability, geologic and weather conditions, changes in extraction
costs and pricing in the Company's mining operations, the cost and timing of
returning Mine No. 5 to operation, changes in customer orders, pricing actions
by the Company's competitors, changes in law, the collection of approximately
$14 million of receivables associated with a working capital adjustment arising
from the sale of a subsidiary in 2003, potential changes in the mortgage-backed
capital market, and general changes in economic conditions. Those risks also
include the timing of and ability to execute on any strategic action that may be
pursued. Risks associated with forward-looking statements are more fully
described in the Company's and Mueller's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no duty to update its forward-looking
statements as of any future date.

SOURCE  Walter Industries, Inc.
    -0-                             10/03/2005
    /CONTACT:  Investors, Joseph J. Troy, Sr. Vice President - Financial
Services, +1-813-871-4404, or jtroy@walterind.com, or Media, Michael A.
Monahan, Director - Corporate Communications, +1-813-871-4132, or
mmonahan@walterind.com, both of Walter Industries/
    /Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020429/FLM010LOGO-c
              AP Archive:  http://photoarchive.ap.org
              PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com /
    /Web site:  http://www.walterind.com /
    (WLT)