Many types and makes of valves are
available on the market. Quality is usually reflected in the
price of the valve.
Typical valves appropriate for water
reticulation systems include:
- Air valves and
pressure relief valves;
Air valves or pressure relief valves
are usually installed at high points along the pipeline routes to
allow accumulated air to be released, thus preventing potential
airlocks and interruptions to flow.
Check and foot valves allow flow in
one direction only. Check and foot valves are available on a
variety of materials including plastic, glass, fibre reinforced
nylon, brass, cast iron, gunmetal bronze and stainless steel.
Floating foot valves are also available.
Gate and ball valves are commonly
used on reticulation lines to allow maintenance (e.g. isolation
valves) and flow control.
Float valves are typically used at
stock troughs or in holding storages, valve is attached to an arm
with a float connected and once water reaches a certain level the
valve is shut.
The quality required will depend on
the intended use. For example high quality valves should be
used for tanks and troughs in remote locations when inspection is
infrequent, or for valves located in underground boxes where visual
inspection on leaks is only possible when the valve box cover is
removed. Increasingly funding agencies for reticulation
schemes will require stainless steel valves.
In areas where pressure and
temperature are high, only high quality material should be
used. Typically stainless steel is used, although advances in
epoxy coatings and electroplating may enable materials such as cast
iron and bronze to be suitable.
Further information on valves
available in Review of Water Reticulation Equipment for Rangelands
pastoral Applications Review compiled by Ralph William
UniSA (information on this page extracted from review)
