Valve Ensures Ample Water Supply at All Times

A municipality in Wyoming needed a valve installed in its water system that would communicate with SCADA systems and maintain a certain percentage of open based on known flow rates at those certain percentages to supply water to 30,000+ residents downstream. At different times of the year there are varying flow requirements that must be met. During the summer months, more water is anticipated to be needed by the local residents due to factors such as swimming pools, irrigation, etc. However, in the colder months, the local residents’ water demand is anticipated to be less.

Working with OCV Control Valves, the municipality selected a 24” Model 22XPR Digital Positioning Control Valve with Pressure Reducing and Check Feature to meet these specifications. A critical role of the 22XPR is to ensure that ample water supply is provided at all times.

Another role of the 22XPR control valve in the water system is to maintain a certain percentage of open based on known flow rates at those certain percentages. During flow testing, the operators exercise the valve at various percentages of open to monitor how much flow the system will produce. System flow measurements are taken by an inline flow meter downstream of the control valve. Once the control valve and SCADA system are in full service, the SCADA system sends the proper valve position signal to the control valve to go the desired percentage of open to meet the downstream water demand. The valve also includes a pressure-reducing feature that activates if the downstream pressure exceeds 150 psi.

Since at any given time the 22XPR control valve cannot be allowed to open any further than what is mandated by the SCADA system, a couple of safety features have been incorporated into the design. The first safety feature is that the valve will automatically go closed upon power failure. The second safety feature is that if the SCADA system should fail for any reason then the locally programed set point assumes control of the 22XPR valve. In this case, the locally programmed set point has been set to 0% so the valve will close upon loss of the SCADA signal.

OCV Control Valves is located in America’s heartland and sells a full line of American-made control valves for use in municipal and industrial water applications. Their quality system is registered to ISO 9001 and the valves carry many certifications, including NSF/ANSI 372, NSF/ANSI 61-G, meeting the “Buy American” provisions of the ARRA, meeting the AIS provisions for State Revolving Loan Funds and carrying an industry-leading 5-year product warranty.

OCV Control Valves is exhibiting at AWWA’s ACE17 expo in Booth 3213.