Float valve
Float ball (float valve, cockball, etc.) is a simple automatically working mechanical unit on the inlet of the tank. Includes two parts, a floating unit (ball), and a valve, which turns the water on or off. You can see similar equipment in toilet tanks.
Different types of float valves can be purchased but only some of them can be used for irrigation purposes by law to avoid cross contamination. Also more equipment has to be installed to the tank, like the overflow. You can read about the regulations in this article.
The ball floats on the water surface and connected to the valve with an arm. When the water level raises, the ball goes up with it and lifts the arm up. The arm turns the valve till its completely off. When the tank empties and the water level drops, the ball (and the arm together with it) also drops and the valve opens.
In case of strong water pressure, a float valve can cause water hammer effect in the pipes easily by opening and closing quickly right before the water level reaches the top point. Water hammer can damage the pipes and connections, not talking about the annoying noise which can screw up the neighbours as well. Best practice to eliminate the noise if a small pressure vessel is installed right before the float valve.
If the float ball is connected to the main water, it’s hardly possible to get blocked by any dirt but it’s still possible to get old or get blocked by limescale. In this case the valve either doesn’t open or doesn’t close properly. In latter situation the tank can overflow. Hence it’s very important to test the working of float ball regularly by lifting up and releasing under pressure. This test is executed by our trained staff as part of our Two-Visit Maintenance Plan.
When the valve is blocked, it an be dismantled and cleaned, or replaced completely.
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