Valves will be a key element in your system whether it’s hydroponic or aquaponic. They allow the isolation of different parts of your system and give you a lot of versatility for directing water flow. Valves also control the direction of the flow and the intensity at which water passes through the system.The two valves that we use for plumbing our hydroponic system are. Both come in a variety of different materials: plastic, PVC, CPVC, galvanized steel, brass, etc. We mostly use plastic or PVC. The material you choose for your valves will influence the way that you join them in your system. If you haven’t already, go ahead and check out the blog post on how to join pipes.The ball valve has what looks like a ball in the center of the fitting.
This ball has two openings opposite from one another this is where the water passes through.The ball is attached to a moving handle which is housed in the stationary pipe. Turn the handle, and you turn the ball, thus determining whether or not water is allowed through.In the video above, Sean uses a PVC threaded valve. You can get these valves threaded or slip fit, which influences how you connect them to your system.The main function of a ball valve is to turn on or shut off flow completely with just a quarter turn, which makes it quick and easy. You can restrict flow, which works pretty well for what we use, but it is not quite as controllable as the gate valve. We mostly use ball valves in our system.Gate valves have a handle that looks a lot more like the knob that turns your outdoor water on and off when you water your lawn.
And, just like those, it takes multiple turns to turn the flow off completely.Gate valves give you more precise control over how much water is getting through the body of the valve. These are useful if you want to restrict flow.The first ball valve Sean shows is next to the main farm pump. The valve is placed between the tank and the pump and, in this case, it is used to turn the water for the farm completely on or off. During normal operation, that valve will be fully open. If we ever need to turn off the water to remove the pump, clean the system, or do maintenance, the ball valve can be turned 90 degrees to cut off the tank from the pump.
A little bit further up the tank, we have another ball valve. You’ll notice that the handle on this valve is turned just slightly to the right, which means that it is restricting the flow of the water.This ball valve is especially useful to farmers who have an oversized pump. The pump that we use, for example, is a little bit too big for the number of drippers in the system, but we like to have the extra capacity to scale the system in the future or flush it during cleaning. Our solution is to use this valve to restrict the water so it is at the proper flow for the system.Beneath that valve is a third. This is another example of when the valve should be either on or off. The valve comes off of a bypass and leads to a hose fitting. We can hook up a garden hose, turn the valve on and use the nutrient water to fill up another tank.