Welcome to Abertax Technologies


Abertax Technologies is a world leader in its field, with a classic approach to business; our working partnerships with our customers
are extremely important to us. The integrity of our products and how we design and manufacture them is fundamental; when Abertax
was founded in 1999 we pledged to only offer products which were innovative, responded intelligently to the demands of modern
industry, and yet complemented and supported the environment.


It's a matter of immense pride to the Abertax Technologies team that we have held fast to these values for over a decade.

Wednesday, 27 August 2014

THE WATER VALVE an Innovative and Patented Product, Invented, Designed and Produced in Malta by Abertax® Quality Ltd. and already being recognized Worldwide thanks to our Marketing and Sales activities

The Water Valve - an innovative product which has been designed, developed and patented to be technically superior, hence possessing advantages over products already existing on the market. One such advantage is the ability to save water, which is considered to be a precious and very expensive resource, especially in countries like Malta where energy is used to meet the water demand through the use of Reverse Osmosis but not only:-



What brought around the development of this valve?

While doing research on the reduction of water flow control and water losses at the University of Malta, a number of problems related to the ball valve were identified, such as:

      Leakages when water pressure is higher than 3 or even 2 bar
      Apparent losses causing a huge investment for water authority
      Regular maintenance and settings
      Low leaks which are not detected but result in surprising water bills

At the same time Abertax® was doing research in collaboration with Ideal Standard, a renowned bathroom designer and manufacturer, to come up with an innovative water inlet valve design for toilet cisterns, to allow:

      Innovative cistern design features
      No maintenance
      Longer lifetime

So basically their request was to research and design a valve that you ‘fit and forget’ for the lifetime of the cistern. Not an easy target but as usual the Abertax R&D took it as an engineering challenge

The project team started by investiagting other valves on the market and to study the effect of the standard ball valve on the water flow profile of a typical Maltese household a logging system was set up.


Figure 1: The test layout to identify the apparent water loss;
Highly Accurate Metering & Motoring at 3 Points
This set-up was installed on a domestic plumbing system, which usually consists of the kitchen being fed directly from the mains water supply and the rest of the household (i.e. bathroom, washroom, garden, etc.) being fed from the roof tank.

Data logging was carried out on the meters installed upstream (i.e. to the roof tank) and downstream (i.e. from the roof tank).

Figure 2 shows the test results indicating clearly that the water meter installed on the supply to the tank substantially under-registered the consumption due to the low flow of  the ball valve.

Figure 2: Data Logging of Water Meters at Roof Tank Inlet and Outlet
 with Ball Valve installed.

It is well known that unless the water meter is brand new and of very high quality it will not register the very low flows, caused by the ball valve while the tank is filling up with water. Apart from this, the team found out that in areas where the pressure is higher than 3 bar, there is a tendency that after some use the ball valve tends to leak  resulted in a continuous overflow of the tank. This under registering will decrease the revenue of the water authorities and is referred to as apparent loss.  The higher the surface area of the tank the higher is the loss as the low flow lasts much longer.

Following our design prototype we replaced the ball valve with our development and we found out that this effect was completely eliminated as can be seen from figure 3 below. This is off course due to the fact that our valve is either completely open or completely closed allowing full flow. One can notice that the inlet meter now registered more because the toilet cisterns in the bathrooms logged on meter c  were still using the ball valve.  The difference is however much lower as the low flow period when using a ball valve  in a toilet cistern is much lower due to a much smaller surface area. 

Figure 3: Data Logging of Water Meters at Roof Tank Inlet and Outlet
 with the Abertax® Water Valve installed. 

To try and eliminate this apparent loss the Water Services Corporation is installing a high cost water meters, which are capable to detect these induced low flows. The corporation has also decided to change these high cost water meters regularly, to ensure accuracy and this is eventually charged indirectly on the water consumption. Apart from, the end user is faced with high water bills which haven't been the case prior to the installation of such meters. Any leakages due to very minor water leaks even from the ball valve itself are now being registered and some customers are getting surprising water bills.
We are very proud to say that some of these dissapointed customers, who were faced with this problem, have solved the problem by installing Abertax Water Valve.

As explained earlier the most commonly used float and lever type valves waste water due to the leaking caused by aging of the valve or by varying water pressure. This is not the case with the Abertax® Water Valve, which was designed to use the water pressure to assist its operation and to ensure a perfect seal at all times when closed, preventing any leaks.

  
We have been promoting this product world wide by the fact that;

"Water is precious! Why not save it? It is so easy with Abertax Water Valve."


with Abertax® Water Valve:

Figure 4: The Abertax® Water Valve - 
4 bar for domestic applications

The Water Valve Design

This characteristic was possible thanks to the design based on differential area principle.
This water valve is a normally open, pilot operated, diaphragm-type valve, it features a mini float with an embedded magnet that operates a diaphragm inside the valve. The rising water level lifts the valve’s float. The magnet within this float is magnetically coupled to a pilot plunger. This plunger, in turn, actuates the diaphragm to close (or open if the water level is receding). The “shut-off” of the valve is instantaneous with full water flow in open valve position; there is simply no attenuated flow.

Figure 5: Technical drawing of the part external dimensions

In the open valve position water passes into chamber X. The pressure under the diaphram is the same due to the bleeding hole. Under this condition the diaphragm becomes neutral and the water flows from chamber X to chamber Y and eventually to the outlet of the valve. Under this condition the pressure and area on both sides of the diaphragm are the same and hence there is no net force on the diaphragm.

Figure 6: The Water Valve in open position

As the float moves upwards by the upthrust on the float, it carries the magnetically coupled plunger in the sealed chamber Z. As soon as the plunger closes the metering hole there will be a net force upwards on the diaphragm due to an increase in pressure and hence force. As soon as the diaphragm toggles upwards area A of the upper diaphragm side, remains at atmospheric pressure, while area A’ will be exposed to the static water pressure. Due to the difference in the upper and lower area which is subjected to the system static pressure there will be a net force upward. This force depends on the area A and the pressure of the water. Therefore the closing force is directly proportional to the pressure in the system, since area A and area A' are constant.

F = P (A' - A)

Figure 7: The Water Valve in closed position

Thanks to this design we came up with a valve, which:

  • Fills much faster than any other valve
  • Is fully opened to a fixed defined level
  • Shuts-off promptly without slowing down the flow. Thus it is fully opened or absolutely closed, there is no intermediate flows.

Our research led us also to find optimum material selection for different applications, such as:

  • Domestic - suitable for Potable Water
  • Industrial - suitable for secondary class water and resistant to most chemicals and soaps - designed and developed to meet harsh working environments

Since research and development never stops at Abertax® we are able to customize our valve for any specific applications.

Tests, Certifications & Patents

After achieving the desired valve design we have field tested it:

  • In-house for over 500,000 thousand operations
  • By quite a number of households all over Malta
  • By the Water Services Corporation and
  • In various industrial / commercial applications (such as hotels, machine floor cleaning industry, agriculture)

We have successfully tested it and certified it according to stringent international standards:

  • TUV in Germany
  • WRAS in the UK                       
We also believe that invention needs protection, therefore we've Patented it Worldwide:
           
  • International: PCT/EP2006/065119
  • USA: 11/997,748
  • Australia: 200677943
  • Canada: 2618037
  • Brazil: PI0614383-0
  • India: 117/MUMNP/2008
Figure 8: Abertax Patents
This way we can secure our product from being copied and therefore secure the working places for our employees and keep employment increase with the sales increase.

The Water Valve production and quality control


We know that without quality even the best invention won't sell, and being ISO 9001 certified and with strong Total Quality Management principles, we at Abertax® practice 100% Quality Control to the latter.
Also in-house production gives as a total control on the quality.


With our versatile work force we at Abertax® are not only designing, developing and producing a quality product, but also our own equipment, automation and tools within our own Tool Shop. And having facilities like that, i.e. from A to Z it gives us flexibility and great responsiveness to the market needs.

 



All these in-house activities led also to employment increase.

Figure 9: Employment statistics (number of employees increase per year)

We at Abertax® are devoted to developing, producing and marketing top quality articles predominantly conceived to make careful use of resources, such as electric energy and water consumption. And since we are aiming at products of reliable highest standard in function and design, whilst keeping in consideration the quality of our local and global environment, we do recycle and reuse where possible.

Marketing and Sales

We also gave a lot of importance to the marketing which now-a-days is another key to sales increase.
The Water Valve has been marketed both locally and internationally.

We have also invested in a promotional video which can be seen on our websites:
www.abertax.com www.thewatervalvecom

We also attend every year international fairs and conferences as this way we can get great exposure and meet in person our potential Customers. We can get to know their product needs and also this gives us the opportunity to explain the advantages and use of our product.




After commencing the marketing activities we've observed a sharp increase in sales in a number of countries, such as in the UK, Australia, Canada, USA, Germany, and many others.

Figure 10: The Water Valve Sales increase

Installation Suggestions

We can proudly say that we have developed a speciality with one of its biggest advantage being the smallest water inlet valve on the market. We have a robust valve with dimensions which make it versatile and ideal for installation in almost any water tank design one could think of. This allows the designer to freely develop tank shapes which are not possible with the standard bulky float or lever operating valve. Our in house designers took this advantage and together with our engineers designed a state of the art flushing units which at the moment are being tested at our premises. These flushing units use the potential energy to reduce the consumption of each flush. 

Figure 11: Abertax Toilet Cistern design with incorporated Abertax Water Valve

In this set up a 4 litre flushing cistern could be used due to the height which creates enough head to compensate for the water tank capacity. This meant a decrease from the normal flush of 6 - 8 litres to only 4 litres, resulting in a decrease of 20% to 30% of the total houshold consumption.

In order to gain space, flushing cisterns could be easily fitted in confined spaces like for example above sofits, in shafts or embedded in the wall. This can only be possible by installing a small valve and surely  the Abertax® Water Valve is the ideal choice a unique product on the market.

An important feature is its silent operation. It is possible to install a silencer which will guide the water right to the bottom of any water container (being a flushing cistern, cold water storage tank, etc.) and preventing noisy splash of water when striking the bottom. This is reaaly a huge advantage especially in the UK where the water tank is usually in the attic above the bedroom.


Figure 12: Example of Toilet Cistern installation with fitted silencer

The Abertax® Water Valve can be easily installed in any tank and even directly to the tank lid - unlike the bulky ball valves; hence making full use of the tank capacity. This is an advantage especially in limited spaces and also you use the capacity of the tank you paid for and never again less.
 
Figure 13: The Water Valve Installation in the water tank lid

The Abertax® Water Valve is also an excellent solution for unattended applications like in floor cleaning machines, that now-a-days are wildly used in many commercial places, such as airports, hospitals, factories, etc.

Before user had to wait until the tank on the machine will be filled one by one wasting precious time. Instead with our water valve one can connect several machines at ones and therefore save time, which costs money. Sometimes machines are  left with the host pipe in it to overflow wasting precious water.

Figure 13: Advertisement for The Abertax® Water Valve -
for Floor Cleaning (Scrubbing) Machines
The Water Valve can be also simply clipped on any type of a container since no leverage is exerted on the pipe connection point.

Figure 14: Some of unattended applications examples

Our Water Valve is an ideal device for use anywhere water filling and constant water level control is required. INNOVATION on the part of the user is here unlimited. 

Advantages

The Water Valve has no moving parts on the outside and the robust design maks it ideal for various applications, unlike other valves existing on the market, which are prone to breakages and damages.

It is possible to mount it and install it in different tank shapes and sizes, in various ways and with different plumbing systems.

This valve uses a technology that does away with mechanical leverage and movements.

This valve is the simplest on the International Market, it is maintenance free and will never leak with pressure variation.

It also fills much faster than any other valve as it is fully open up to the very last moment when it then shuts-off promptly without slowing down the flow. Thus it is ideal to be used with pressure switched pumps as it has a quick shut off.

Conclusion

This is one of the success stories for Abertax® having developed an innovative product which has simply EXCELLENT OPERATING PERFORMANCE.



Ing. Anna Dulska
Senior Engineer


The Abertax® Water Valve Engineering Team

 Ing. Anna Dulska

Project Team Leader engineer specialising in Product Development 

Profs. Dr. Joseph Cilia
Research Director expert in electromechanical applications and energy efficiency

Ing. Joseph Pule
Mechanical Engineer specialising in Product Design and Injection Moulding

Ing. George Schembri
Mechanical Engineer specialising in Product Design and Automation

Ing. Aaron Farrugia
Mechanical Engineer specialising in Product Development

Mr. Anthony Cassar
Mechanical Engineer specialising in Automation Design

Mr. Simon Cutajar
Mechanical Engineer specialising in Mould Design

Ing. Carmel Ellul
Mechanical Engineer specialising in polymers

Ing. Malcolm Tabone
Electrical Engineer specialising in System Design

Ing. Neville Azzopardi
Electrical Engineer specialising in Power Conversion & Solar Installation





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