PVC Fittings and Valves Can Be Broken down into Three Categories:

• Flanged: A flanged fitting is used to bolt the metric PVC pipe to a pump, filter or other piece of equipment. The advantage of using a flange over a thread or glued joint, is that the bolts can be removed and the equipment taken away for servicing or replacement, without disturbing the pipework. Flanges require a rubber gasket to be placed between the faces. Drillings on flanges are different in different parts of the world. In the UK and Europe, flange drillings tend to be either PN10 or PN16 (also sometimes called NP10 or NP16). North American drillings are an ANSI standard and may be referred to as ASA150, for example, and older UK flanges (more than about 30 years) may be a BS standard. Care needs to be taken to order the right drilling of flange or the bolt holes will not match up.
• Glued: A glued joint, made using PVC cement, is the most common way of joining metric PVC pipe and fittings together. Our YouTube channel has several instructional videos to help you. Gluing joints is a simple, quick process. Any metric pressure fitting, whether supplied by us or anyone else, will fit any metric pressure pipe.
• Threaded: All our fittings, like most PVC manufacturers, have BSP tapered threads; please note that these ARE NOT compatible with North American NPT threads. Please note however that our tank connectors/ bulkheads do not as they require a backnut to thread evenly along the full length. Male tapered threads are compatible with femal parallel and tapered threads. Female tapered threads are not compatible with male parallel threads - We supply special female parallel PT sockets for this purpose.

Pressure Ratings

Our metric PVC fittings and valves are generally rated to 10 bar operation pressure (at 20 degrees C). There are some exceptions to this, particularly with larger fittings and valves (over 200mm), which are sometimes rated for a lower pressure. Remember that pressure ratings drop by about a sixth, every time the operating temperature increases by ten degrees. At temperatures below 20, use the 10 bar pressure figure.