Foot Valve

A foot valve is a necessary part of every water pumping system. From the name it depicts that a foot valve always comes on the bottom/end of the suction pipe line of a pump connected to sump. When the water pump is running, suction is created, which pulls the water in the upward direction through the pipe. The foot valve is so designed that it opens up easily because of the upward pressure from the incoming water, and thus, normal water flow through the pipe is established.

When the pump is turned off, the upward pulling force on the water is removed. As soon as this happens, the Earth's gravitational pull acts on the water in the pipe, and it tries to flow back into the well with only the foot valve in its way. The entire weight of the water column pushes down onto the foot valve. Since the foot valve is a one-way check valve, it cannot open in the downward direction. As such, under the influence of the downward acting weight of the water column, the foot valve gets shut tightly.

Most foot valves now a day are usually fitted with an inlet strainer to prevent the debris from entering into the pipeline.