Why Aren’t Isolation Valves Compulsory?

[CharterGAS]

gate valves aren't suitable for anything are they!!!

use full flow lever arm Teflon coated ball valves!! shut off every time!!

 

[W.T.Pearce & Co]

In my opinion they are good practice but not always essential,

For;

They are so easily isolated, it is within most customers ability to use them to isolate the faulty or leaking appliance until a plumber can get there.
They also of course offer a means of restricting flow rate to individual taps and valves.
On larger and more complicated systems they can save time finding cylinder/tank feed valves in lofts etc...

Against;

Another compression fitting = another potential leak.
How many jobs do you get too where all the isolation valves actually still fully shut off? Very few in my experience.
With most small domestic systems running off instantaneous water heaters (combination boilers) now that are so easily isolated, is there any need for further valves?
Flow restriction.


My 2ps worth.

 

[feltham]

it is a water regulation to install a service valve on a wc (toilet) but not on any other outlet. which is stupid really as they can all break water regs with wasting water when a tap is not shutting off . but who am i to decide what is or isnt.
really got to get onto work about doing my water regs corse . still havent been put on it only been asking for 2 years

 

[justlead1]

Hi, How far can we take water conservation? The fitting of isolating /service valves has always been a sign of good plumbing. However with the introduction and sales of combi systems to the great unwashed, life times are being wasted waiting for the bath to fill. What happened to the minimum 4 gallons a minuet delivery at a bath tap? I have found on a few occasions, where very high pressure is present, that the noise generated when chocking down a supply to an appliance is unacceptable and resulted in the need of a PRV being fitted to incoming supply. There is no simple answer to conservation. Perhaps bucket and chuck it, is the next campaign? Good Luck

 

[Aqua Mechanica]

I do new builds, and we always put Isolation Valves before anything. I'll have one on the WC Suite, two on the basin and two combined Isolation/Check Valves on the Bath.

Alway one on the Hot and Cold Feeds, Lever Type (Instead of Gate Valves now).

Under the Kitchen Sink, on incoming main --> lever type also.

So it's happening

 

[Bernie2]

I think some of us may be talking at cross purposes here. The CP961 whilst being an isolation valves isn't your average 2p a ton ball-o-flow isolation valve. As said it has a cartridge in it that regulates the flow.

The questions to ask I suppose are:

How long does the cartridge last and does it block up?

Plumbers don't want call backs every few months.

It's good practise to fit them of course, but it depends a lot on the system your fitting them too. Some places struggle to get hardly any flow out of any tap, let alone restrict it. On balance though if conditions are right I would say yes they are a good idea.

 

[HTB]

I fit 'em as a matter of course.

 

[Bernie2]

Hmm

Another point to consider is? Would people pay the extra? After all you only really waste water, if you keep the tap water running down the waste. If your flow is over the recommended flow rate then it obviously fills faster and then the sooner you shut it off. People may get annoyed at you for slowing their water flow.

But you could tell them that any flow rates over the recommended, causes internal pipe erosion?

 

[alph250]

CP961 isolation ball valve + Legislation?

ha hahahahahaha! yeah right!

If there was a water conservation reg to come out it would probably realte more to an outlet say WHB outlet must be no greater than 4 lpm then manufacturers of WHB outlets would incorporate a flow restriction into ther product, also something like this you could never make retrospective so these CP961 isolation ball valve would never take off as the retrospective application would be its main marketing target.

However i do agree with the conservation of water, its something this country takes for granted.

I always specify flow restrictors for works to be carried out, i designed a new shower block and specified mira showers with a 10 litre flow restriction kit installed, conserves water, costs literally £3-£4 and more importantly makes my life easier for calculating the hot water flow rate and the associated loadings.

Anyone else agree that the quarter turn iso valves start weeping from the screw hole after they've been operated 3-4 times? i always use the quarter turn style ones now!

 

[stevetheplumber]

i my opinion the comulsory fitting of service valves came to late most average sized homes are now totaly mains fed one stopcock efectivly shuts everything down with minimal water loss gone are the days of draining a tank to do a ballvalve or washer
good pipe sizing has the effect of flow regulation most new builds use 10 mm feeds to the basin taps and wc so much easier to get behind a basin pedestal as well