Ball Valves

Ball valves tend to be increasingly found in newer homes. Ball valves use a handle to control the placement of a hollow, perforated sphere in the mechanism. When the handle is turned, the hole immediately opens or closes the water flow.

You can tell by the handle placement whether the valve is opened or closed: when in the open position, the handle lies flat, in alignment with the flow, and when closed, the handle is perpendicular to the flow. They are often used for shut-off and control applications.

Butterfly Valves

Butterfly valves have a design similar to ball valves with a rotating metal disc (nicknamed the “butterfly”) on a rod. A closed butterfly valve uses the disc to block water flow, while an open one rotates the disc a quarter turn to allow the water to flow. Butterfly valves belong to a family called “quarter-turn valves.”

Butterfly valves tend to be lighter and less expensive than ball valves, but are less durable and slower to operate. They tend to be used in industrial applications more than residential ones.

Check Valves

Check valves, also called non-return or one-way valves, are designed to allow flow in only one direction and to automatically prevent or “check” back flow if the fluid in the line reverses direction. Check valves tend to be small, simple and inexpensive, and are often used for backflow prevention in pumps, safety applications and such systems as lawn sprinklers.

Faucet Valves

Faucet valves are used specifically to control water flow in kitchen and bathroom faucets. In addition to ball valves, they can include cartridges, ceramic disc valves and compression valves.

Cartridge valves are designed with a movable stem that can be raised or lowered to regulate flow, inside a plastic cartridge. Two-handle faucets often have separate cartridge valves for the hot and cold water.
Ceramic disc valves use ceramic discs in cartridge housings to regulate flow. Hardened ceramic resists wear and corrosion, increasing the valves’ durability.
Compression valves tend to be found in older faucets and use a compression stem to press against the valve seat. They can be inexpensive but contain rubber or plastic washers that can crack or corrode, leading to leaks.

Gate Valves

Gate valves, also called sluice valves, are more likely to be found in older houses. Their mechanism usually involves a round knob that, when turned, lowers or raises an internal gate or wedge to control the water flow rate. The familiar outdoor spigot for a garden hose offers an example of a gate valve.

Gate valves allow customers to control the rate of the flow of water, such as slow trickles as opposed to the full flow, but do not provide an immediate stop. They are often used with larger pipe diameters of two inches and up.

Globe Valves

Globe valves are alternately called stop valves and contain a stem that controls a disc inside the mechanism. Although the valve body often has a bulging shape, many globe valves no longer feature a spherical design, despite the name “globe” remaining in common usage. They are easy to maintain, have effective throttling and shutoff abilities and are frequently used in outdoor residential faucets as well as boiler and cooling water systems.

Pressure Relief Valves

Pressure relief valves, also called pressure reducing valves, are designed to reduce water pressure in plumbing systems, often to a specific limit. Homes that receive high pressure water from municipal supplies may need a pressure relief valve to prevent damage to plumbing and appliances, which can include a burst water pipe or a constantly running toilet.

Supply Stop Valves

Supply stop valves, also called shut-off valves, are designed to stop the flow from a water supply. While most water valves can do this, stop valves provide easy shut-off mechanisms to allow people to find a leak near fixtures or when doing other plumbing work, without shutting off the water supply to the entire house. A shut-off valve tends to be a compression or quarter-turn valve, and can be chosen in straight or angled designs depending on the flow path of the particular plumbing configuration. Ball valves are common types of supply stop valves.

Knowing the different water valve types and their different options for opening and closing can help you more effectively control your plumbing system.

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Different Types Of Valves