Kerick Valve MA052 PVC Mini Float Valve, Tank Mount, Adjustable Arm, 1.5 gpm at 60 psi, 1/2" NPT Male

I wanted a water holding tank and used a 20 gallon Husky Garbage can, mounted this on it and it works just fine.I use the water with a very weak solution of fertilizer to water my 80 plus orchids and other plants. I had to use a couple of sturdy plastic plates to solidify the installation because the weight of the hose would buckle the area where it's mounted. But once that was done, it works just fine.October 28th, 2015 addendum:I think that something like this would also work great for adding water to an aquarium or fish tank. If the water coming out of your tap is chlorinated, letting it sit for a while will help dissipate the chlorine. This could also work as an emergency self filling water tank. Here in Hawaii, we are constantly warned about the possibility of a hurricane. A 33 gallon CLEAN garbage can filled with water would certainly help in an emergency. Just leave the cover on to keep dust and debris from getting into it. Actually, if you think hard enough, there are a lot of possibilities with this.

This is a great idea. However it doesn't appear that there is enough buoyancy in the float to fully shut off the valve. Because of this, the valve is overfilling my 900 gal pond. If I hold the float up with a little pressure, the valve closes. I've tried a number of different angles as the float is adjustable, but nothing seems to work.So my next trick is to attach some styrofoam to add buoyancy. We'll see if it improves.

I had a similar float valve in my fountain for several years, but recently it started failing to shut off completely, causing the fountain to overflow. I ordered this one and installed it. Same problem: it would not completely shut off the water. I went to the irrigation store and bought two more of the same float valve. They both had the same problem. On a hunch I measured the pressure of the water supply: 65 psi! Guessing that was too much for such a primitive valve I put a pressure regulator in the supply to the fountain ($40 from Amazon -- Watts series LF25AUB -- very nice) and reduced the pressure on the float valve to 20 psi. Now it shuts off fine. There are more expensive float valves that would probably work, but they are too big to fit in my fountain's water catchment tub.Pros -- small and simple. Cons -- works best with low pressure water feed.

This thing is much smaller than I had pictured in my mind. The whole assembly is barely longer than my open hand, so it can fit into tight spaces for a fountain project, or in a sump to maintain water level in a swimming pool. The description here at Amazon.com is nonsense, giving its length as 1 inch: The actual overall length is about 7.5 inches, or 6.5 inches from the mounting flange to the tip of the float, worst case. (See the second vendor-supplied image with the valve photographed against an inch grid for a better understanding of its actual size.) With allowance for installation and adjustment, the valve could be squeezed into a space as small as 8 inches by 2 inches. If installed in a bulkhead, the mounting surface should be flat and no thicker than about 0.25 inch, to allow enough thread protrusion on the outside to attach a threaded pipe fitting. Bulkhead mounting is optional: The male pipe thread on the valve is slightly tapered and can be screwed into any female pipe thread fitting, using Teflon tape on the threads for a watertight sealI gauged the valve orifice with a drill rod at 0.094 inch (3/32 inch) diameter, which accounts for the low flow rate specification. You may not want to fill a swimming pool with it from scratch, but for a typical backyard pool it will allow more than enough water to flow to compensate for evaporation loss. The float arm pivots on a stainless steel cotter pin, so it could easily be disassembled, should the need arise, although at the low cost of the assembly it may be more economical to replace it entirely. Depending on the placement of the valve, the float can be adjusted over a liquid level range of at least 4 inches, possibly as much as 6 inches, by loosening the stainless steel wing nut.One of these valves was successfully used to maintain the water level in a neighbor's swimming pool last summer during a month-long absence. See the customer photo that I posted, showing the minimalist installation with a few pieces of PVC plastic plumbing, an ordinary brick and a garden hose. The only problem I encountered was the hose of the automatic pool sweep once getting hung up on the valve, keeping it open continuously. Because of the restricted flow, no flooding occurred by the time I discovered the problem the next day. If I use it next summer again, I'll mount the valve with some sort of bumper or "fence" around it to keep the pool sweep hose clear, and I'll replace the leaky plastic hose fitting with a sturdier brass fitting.

I had purchased this because of all the great reviews. I had another adjustable float with a plastic screw where the plastic screw essentially stripped out and would no longer hold the float correctly. The cost of this float valve was equivalent to the cost of me getting stainless steel bolt, nut, and washer from the local hardware store.The problem I discovered is that the valve never completely shuts off, even when the arm is all the way up. You still get small drips into your water, which leans to overflowing. It's very slow, we didn't notice it at first because our dogs drank enough water to keep it from overflowing. We saw it getting higher in level. But then on cooler days, they drink less and it would reach the top. Finally emptied all the water and held the arm up. Drips.

This has got to be the best purchase I have ever made for my pool. I used to worry all the time about the water level going below the skimmers and potentially damaging my pump. Additionally, it would take a few hours to fill the pool up to a good level so I would have to wait around and hope I didn't forget to turn off the water before going to sleep.This float valve has eliminated all of that. With a quick trip to home depot to get some PVC fittings, I was able to hook it up to a garden hose to create an automatic pool filler that is set it and forget it. I was worried that my large pool (36,000 gallons) might be too much for the valve to keep up with in the middle of summer, but it works perfectly. This would be my first recommendation for anyone with a pool.