As the nation increasingly seeks sources for renewable energy, dams and the thousands of valves they contain will only become more important.

When we see a majestic dam, with its huge face of concrete holding back acres of water, probably the last thing we think of are the Valves it takes to make them operate effectively. But large dams, especially those providing hydroelectric power, are full of valves of all sizes and types. There are gates, globes, checks, balls and butterflies, along with some very special valve designs used only in the water reclamation industry.

To get an idea of the valving used in dams, we need to look at how dams work. Although we tend to think of them as structures designed to hold back water and create attractive recreational lakes, their true purpose is much more complicated. Dams are usually built to provide crucial water resources, and in more and more cases, their purpose is to -provide renewable electrical energy.
The purpose of the Valve in these structures is to adjust the output of the reservoir that forms behind those dams while maintaining the proper reservoir depth, both in times of flood and in drought. Looking at the top of a moderate-size dam, we would see a number of rolling gates or sluices that provide the modulation of flow necessary to balance water supply and demand. In fact, the most common style of gate or valve used is a rolling type, which functions very similar to a sluice gate Valve that is open at the top. Although this is technically a valve, these gates are not at all like the valve designs used in other industries.

All dams of substantial size need to have a way of releasing water in controlled amounts because of changing reservoir capacities, downstream water demands or minimum stream flow requirements. These situations call for special valves designed to dissipate the large amount of energy created by the high head of water in the dam.