SplashBotix Product Spotlight: The SplashValve

Welcome to the next generation of water feature design and development.

Among owners and operators in the aquatics entertainment and facilities industry today, there is increasing pressure to do radically more with less. The competing interests of resource and budget constraints, and the increasingly lofty expectations of the aquatics-inclined public are pushing aquatic show and feature designers and developers today to think further outside the box than ever before.

At SplashBotix, we’ve been thinking outside the box, too.

The SplashBotix SplashValve, already in its third generation, is a fast-acting diverter valve with a unique, low-voltage internal mechanism that allows for near-constant back pressure over a full range of flow. That means any number of SplashValves can be hosted on the same supply manifold, and each run a different effect at varying levels of nozzle height. At little to no increase in cost, space and resources, the SplashValve enables entirely new, larger and more exciting water feature designs to be built around an operation’s existing supply configuration.

Take your operations to the next level.

Once every few years, a product comes along with the capacity to upend the industry in which it’s introduced. For the aquatics entertainment and facilities industry, we believe the SplashValve is that product.

Not only does the SplashValve provide owners and operators the opportunity to reduce costs and improve customer and patron experiences, it’s also specially engineered to help ambitious designers and creatives better execute their vision. In addition to the SplashValve’s minimal infrastructure requirements relative to competing devices, its proprietary software ensures the device can be integrated seamlessly into any fountain show or spectacular. Given their existing design constraints, show designers can dramatically increase the number of features and effects in their show using the SplashValve.

More water, less infrastructure.

Unlike conventional feature valve designs, the SplashValve doesn’t use a snorkel to modulate the pressure of its water supply feed to execute different feature effects; it merely changes the water’s direction. In this system, the water supplied to the valve never stops flowing, making the SplashValve virtually lossless in terms of its ability to make complete use of the pressure supplied to it.

The SplashValve also enables owners and operators to reduce their supply infrastructure by replacing each effect nozzle’s submersible pump with a single dry pump capable of supplying multiple effect nozzles via a common manifold. By scaling back the supply infrastructure, the SplashValve dramatically reduces owners’ and operators’ electrical infrastructure, as reflected in the infographic below. This “streamlining” effect facilitates an inherently safer and more space- and resource- efficient installation featuring fewer lower voltage power cables and equipment.

A show designer’s best friend.

Designers, this is the paintbrush you use to create your Magnum Opus.

For those operating in DMX, the SplashValve offers 8-bit resolution between effect and bypass. That means, between on and off, the SplashValve’s diverter mechanism can be in any one of 255 different positions at a given time, allowing for a wide range of different water effect heights. It’s also a single channel device, providing designers with the flexibility to configure as many as 512 SplashValves in a single DMX universe.

Designed with water feature designers in mind – like all SplashBotix products – the SplashValve supports both basic and extended PIDs in RDM, including everything from optimized device labeling to diagnostic support features.

Your system’s most reliable component.

An essential component to virtually every water feature, conventional valves can also be an installation’s greatest vulnerability. Coarse sediment and mud can create clogs or, over time, wear away at the valve’s construction, leading to frequent, costly and intense maintenance. In particularly severe cases, replacement projects may be required, which can completely shut down operations, sometimes indefinitely.

Courtesy of SplashBotix parent company ARM Automation’s decades of experience producing ruggedized solutions for high stakes, mission critical applications, the SplashValve is designed to operate without disruption in even the harshest environments. Its open bore design is inherently clogless, and excludes any screens or filtration mechanisms, allowing mud and particles to seamlessly pass right through the device.

Competing switch valves and sequencing nozzles typically include mesh screens that sit behind the valve to filter out and collect particles and debris. Inevitably, those filters, which pick up everything from cigarette butts to chewing gum, require a maintenance interval of once every three to six months depending on the installation environment and location. The SplashValve, on the other hand, has a much longer maintenance interval, and can be cleaned out, when needed, in less than a minute.

Schedule a virtual demo in the SplashBotix test pool.

Interested in seeing the SplashValve for yourself?

Take a virtual tour of our 1200-gallon test pool, outfitted with multiple SplashValves, to experience the SplashValve in action right from your computer or handheld internet-connected device. In addition to the demo, we can provide a breakdown of the technology itself, and answer any questions you might have about the SplashValve or any other SplashBotix products.

Reach out to schedule your virtual demo today!