Valve Pressure and Regulating Air Flow

As water flows through our pipes and into our sinks, showers, and toilets everyday, do you ever stop and wonder how that came to be?  Who developed the system that runs beneath our city streets and brings water to us each day?  What is involved in laying down the infrastructure that provides for a hot shower or the ability to water the lawn?  What is actually happening when we turn a knob on the kitchen sink or press a button on the washing machine?

It is not magic, so it must be mechanics, but what are those mechanics?  Truth be told, a full mechanical description is a bit complicated and will take more time and space than is available.  However, in a nutshell, our water systems are based on a series of valves and ball valve products. The history of valves, commercial valves and their implementation, is a prime example of man’s ingenuity.

Valves are Born

The purpose of an industrial valve is to regulate flow.  They are most often used to regulate the flow of liquids, but they can also be used to regulate airflow.  They operate by creating a situation where the substance is moving from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure.  They are all around us, in our plumbing, our cars, and our own bodies.  The precursors to today’s, often quite complicated valves, were fairly simple.  Early man did not have a lot with which to work, but he (or she) was observant, if nothing else.  Beavers were able to divert the flow of water with sticks, leaves, and occasionally stones.  Early man, observing this, began to do the same thing.  By redirecting water, and then collecting it, they were able to create areas for washing, bathing, cooking, etc.  Later, people began using a flap of either leather or wood, on a hinge.  Water moving in one direction would cause the flap to open, but if it moved in the other direction, the flap would close.  The first true man-made valve was born.  With time, the valve will reach industries such as Oil and Gas, to Food and Beverage Valves.