Ball valves, also known as quarter-turn valves, are used for water, oil, and gas. They have a handle that operates a concealed ball with a hole through the middle. As the name implies, you give this valve a quarter turn to fully open it or close it.

GET BALL VALVE ON OFF POSITION INFORMATION

Ball Valve On Off Position

Open or closed: When the handle of a ball valve is parallel to the valve or pipe, it’s open. When it’s perpendicular, it’s closed. This makes it easy to know if a ball valve is open or closed, just by looking at it. The ball valve below is in the open position.

Ball valves are adeptly named because of the ball that sits inside the housing unit. The ball has a hole through the center. This hole faces the flow of water when the valve is open. When the valve is closed, the solid side of the ball faces the flow, effectively blocking the further forward movement of the liquid. Because of this design, ball valves are a type of shut-off valve, meaning they can only be used to stop and start flow; not regulate the flow.

Ball valves are perhaps the easiest valve to see if they are open or closed. If the handle on top is parallel to the valve, it’s open. Likewise, if the handle is perpendicular to the top, the valve is closed.

Common places you might find a ball valve are in irrigation and in sites where you need to control water supply from one area to another.