One question that plagues homeowners and professionals is: “Is my valve open or closed?” If you have a butterfly or ball valve, the orientation of the handle indicates whether the valve is open or closed. If you have a globe or gate valve, it can be difficult to tell if your valve is open or closed because there are few visual cues, which means you have to rely on resistance to determine if your valve is actually closed. Below we’ll look at the four different types of valves and discuss the details of determining whether a valve is closed or open.

Is my ball valve open or closed?
Red handle PVC ball valve

Ball valves are so named because of the ball that sits inside the housing unit. There is a hole in the center of the ball. When the valve is open, this hole faces the flow of water. When the valve is closed, the solid side of the sphere faces the flow, effectively preventing the liquid from moving further forward. Because of this design, ball valves are a type of shut-off valve, which means they can only be used to stop and start flow; they do not regulate flow.

Ball valves are probably the easiest valves to see if they are open or closed. If the handle at the top is parallel to the valve, it is open. Likewise, if the handle is perpendicular to the top, the valve is closed.

Common places you may find ball valves are in irrigation and where you need to control the water supply from one area to another.

How to determine if your butterfly valve is open
Lug type pvc butterfly valve

Butterfly valves are different from all the other valves in this article because they can be used not only as shut-off valves, but also as regulating valves. Inside the butterfly valve is a disc that spins when you turn the handle. Butterfly valves can regulate flow by partially opening the valve plate.

The butterfly valve has a lever handle similar to that of a ball valve at the top. The handle can either indicate whether the flow is on or off, as well as partially open the valve by locking the flap in place. When the handle is parallel to the valve, it is closed, and when it is perpendicular to the valve, it is open.

Butterfly valves are suitable for garden irrigation and are also commonly used in space-constrained applications. They feature a slim design that’s perfect for tight spaces. Due to the disc inside, these valves are not best suited for high pressure applications as there will always be something that will partially block the flow.

How to know if the gate valve is open
Grey gate valve with red handle pvc

A gate valve is an isolation (or shut-off) valve installed on a pipe that needs to completely shut off or open flow. The gate valve has a knob on top that, when turned, raises and lowers the gate inside, hence the name. To open the gate valve, turn the knob counterclockwise and clockwise to close the valve.

There is no visual indicator to see if the gate valve is open or closed. So it’s important to remember that when you turn the knob, you must stop when you encounter resistance; continued attempts to turn the valve could damage the gate, rendering your gate valve useless.

The most common use of gate valves around the house is to shut off the main water supply, or as you may see more often, for faucets on the outside of the house.

Is my shutoff valve closed?
Stainless Steel Globe Valve

The last valve on our list is the globe valve, which is another type of globe valve. This valve looks similar to a gate valve, but is more compact. It’s also the valve you’re probably most familiar with. These valves are commonly used to connect appliances such as toilets and sinks to the water supply lines in your home. Turn the shut-off valve clockwise to close the supply and counterclockwise to open it. A globe valve has a stem under its handle that rises and falls as the valve closes and opens. When the globe valve is closed, the valve stem is not visible.

Final Tip: Know Your Valve Type
At the end of the day, the most important part of knowing whether a valve is open or closed is knowing which type of valve you have. Ball and butterfly valves have a lever handle on the top to indicate whether the valve is open or closed; gate and globe valves both require a knob to be turned and have no or difficult to see visual cues when opening or closing.