NEW YORK – 3M Co. (MMM) Thursday said it would acquire filtration products maker CUNO Inc. (CUNO) for about $1.35 billion in a move to capitalize on the growing need for water purification globally.

Unlike water trickling down through one of its filters, earnings have defied gravity over the last four years at CUNO Inc. in Meriden. The maker of filters — for brewers, for oil companies, for ...