I had leaking valve assembly for a beauty salon's hair washing station. It had a handle that allowed to independently control temperature and pressure. It looked like this:
And, to save water and for convenience, I just bought thermostatic valve that looks like this:
And the shower head with hose that I may or may not reuse looks like this:
Since, thermostatic valve is not designed to control water flow, then I need another valve that would do that.
I am considering options here w.r.t. what would be legal and safe to prevent accidental flooding.
Option #1. Use something like kitchen sink rinser that has a built in shut off valve. My concern with this option is – are they reliable enough because they would be under pressure 24/7? Also, is there design that instead of simple on/off option would allow to control pressure flow?
Option #2. Use a cheap $10 water control valve. It is tempting for me to install it on the hose's side that has shower head opposed on hose's side where thermostatic valve resides. Mainly because then this water control valve would be in easy to reach place. And I would not have to deal with partially rotten wood frame where the old valve was installed. Are these valves reliable enough to be toggled multiple times a day?
Option #3. Get a shower trim kit with valve (similar to what we already had). Seems quite expensive, and I believe I would need to get one with only one inlet for warm water as water will be already premixed.
Any other options on how to control water flow?
Best Answer
If that's 1/2"npt on the valve, then they make flow control valves for showerheads that should fit. Usually around $10.
Just be careful, some are just on/off, and they look identical. Best to check with an experienced sales rep or read the back of you don't trust them.