One place where valves are used that touches every one of us every day of our lives is the clean water industry. When we turn on the tap for a drink or open the hydrant to water our roses, we are interacting with the last valve in the clean water pipeline. The valves used in this piping-intensive, complicated industry perform yeoman’s duty behind the scenes and often behind security fences—24 hours a day.

Today’s building systems move many types of fluids and gases through their lines to keep operations such as HVAC, fire protection, water and waste­water functioning. Valves play a key role in keeping those systems flowing.

Recent developments in heavy oil extraction technology for the Canadian oil and gas industry have created a need for new flow control solutions in steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). SAGD uses a pair of horizontal wells drilled from a central well pad to recover heavy oil.

The method of pulling power from the ground’s heat is receiving renewed attention because of new technologies as well as efforts by DOE and other parties to promote this clean, abundant source of energy.