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

Quality float valve, barely distinguishable from the Chinese copies but I trust the brand that actual plumbers use. Replaced the cracked valve in our backyard water feature that's fed by our lawn & garden irrigation system. Just had to put a little silicone grease on the threads and screw it in by hand.

This worked so good that I bought a second one! I got this valve to use in a self filling self watering container I made to grow vegetables in on my patio. I have had such bad luck with vegetable gardening in the past that I wanted to take the human watering element out of the equation and build my own self watering container garden (akin to a commercial earthbox). I wanted to also make it self filling so that I didn't have to worry about adding water and having an overflow hole, so I put in this valve, added a hose bib adapter and connected it to a faucet timer (just in case I had some blow out, I didn't want to just leave it turned on all the time). Now the timer comes on once a day and the valve fills the reservoir until the float shuts it off to keep the water level topped off. I planted two tomato plants and they are going crazy with more tomatoes than I have ever had from my previous in ground gardening. I have the container for the second valve, but haven't installed it yet. Hopefully I can finish it up to have even more vegetables this winter.

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.

Fit perfectly to replace old valve on my outdoor pond!! Very happy with this purchase and arrived quickly

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 seal I 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 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.

Using this float as a backup system for my hydroponics auto-filler. If the electronic valve fails open, then the float valve will cut off the flow before my reservoir overflows and causes a flood. It was easy to install and comes with a nice rubber gasket and plastic mounting "nut" which tightens around the 1/2" MPT inlet. You can adjust the height of the water using the wingnut on the armature. Be careful, though; it's kind of of tight and the whole thing is made of plastic. So don't break it. The mechanism is remarkably simple: a small rubber plug is pushed against a hole when the armature is lifted to a certain point, stopping the water flow.

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.

I have had this valve for nearly a year and it is perfect. It fills up my pond to the proper level and shuts off. The size fits in the palm of your hand and thus could be hidden very easily. There is little noise to the operation when it is topping up your water level and when it shuts off, there is no noise. Very simple to install, this is a DIY set-up...that is how simple it is. I would buy this again if needed.

Very simple and effective device. Easy to mount. Installed in my 500 gallon pond and it keeps it full at all times. Fast delivery........ 5 stars.

Had purchased a small garden fountain but it was a pain keeping it topped up with water. A very hot day meant a lot of evaporation, a rainy day added water. Had considered adding it to my regular watering system, but that always added the same amount each day so did not work. I then purchased this float valve and hooked it up to a low pressure line that was permanently on and this works perfectly! Only thing I did to the valve was to paint the float black so it was hard see under the water! Simple and cheap solution.

Kerick Valve MA052 PVC Mini Float Valve - Bought Mar 2020 - $16.25 UPDATED DEC 2023 Very Happy with this float valve. I am using it in an automatic watering system for the family dogs. It is installed inside our home near the back door so leakage is a concern. I measured the water supply pressure and found it to be 50 - 55 psi. Installed it just over 3 1/2 years ago now and no issues so far, all the parts are original and the water looks like it is the same level as when I first set it up. Simple and effective design. I thought that I would try one of these, as I had already replaced 2 of the float valves that came with my automatic watering bowl. They were failing around the 6 month mark. (seal would become deformed and water would not shut off completely)

Bought it to feed sap to the maple syrup evaporator. Works great as expected, just might of went with bigger pipe ID because it has trouble keeping up to my boil rate. I just help it along 30 to 40 minutes instead. Nice to know it won't overflow though.