Andrew Southen, a Registered Craftsman Plumber with thirty years experience, invented the Isovalve (winner of the Zenago emerging business award) which enables plumbers to connect plumbing fixtures and appliances without having to turn the water off at 'distant' isolating shut-off valves. Installed in place of a test plug the Isovalve enables the wall board, tiles or joinery to be neatly drilled and installed over the Isovalve. Then after that it is a simple matter of sliding over a flange attaching the fixture to the Isovalve outlet and then turning on the water at the Isovalve.

They say the best ideas are often the simplest!

"The idea of the Isovalve came about when I was at a job where all I had to do was fit a basin at a medical laboratory. The test plugs had already been installed and were sticking out of the wall ready for me to connect the flexible connections from the basin faucet. It should have been easy, but being a plumber of many years I knew that turning off the water in this place was not going to be straight forward. I said to myself "I wish those test plugs were valves" if I didn't have to turn the water off, the job would have only taken half an hour. My premonition about it not being a straight forward task proved correct. I first went to reception and had the receptionist page the maintenance man, the maintenance man paged all the relevant people and got permission to turn off the water. The maintenance man showed me where to turn off the cold water way down a long drive on the road, and then he showed me where to turn off the hot water (which predictably was at a different location to where I had to turn off the cold water). The first hot water turn off tap didn't work so I had to revert to the tap in the ceiling which meant getting a ladder and light! After finally getting the water turned off and draining all the water out of the system (well it never did all drain out because the old valves wouldn't shut off properly!) the test plugs were removed. The bucket soon filled up and before long I had water all over the floor and still flowing. This is the time when you hope you don't have a problem as water was an essential ingredient in the operation of this particular building. Finally I had the tap installed but in order to complete the installation I had to crawl back into the ceiling to turn the hot water on, run out to the road to turn the cold water back on, and run back to make sure I didn't have a leak. The job took me three hours and I was stressed and tired from a whole lot of unnecessary running around. If the isovalves had been installed on that job, it would have taken me a maximum of 40minutes. I would have enjoyed completing the task a lot more and my customers would certainly have appreciated not having the water turned off to their entire building".

The Isovalve evolved specifically from that experience but it has been designed based on my 30 years as a Craftsman Plumber. The design of the valve allows it to do more than just shut the water on and off. It also allows the valve to act as a test plug, allows for the installation of a water filter and allows for water flow to be adjusted at individual installations meaning potential water and energy savings to customers.

My company has been installing Isovalves for some time now and without exception they have been excellent to use. They look good when installed, save time and money and incorporate a 'future proofing' aspect which benefits the customer. I see their use as being win-win for all concerned.

Feedback from other plumbers and building specifiers has been very positive.

Isovalve...the future

Isotec Limited has secured patents in NZ, Australia and other countries around the World.  The company is in discussions with interested Distributors in a number of Countries.  WaterMark certification was recently granted to the Isovalve products.  Additional products which are able to be used in conjuction with the Isovalve are also being developed and it's hoped they will be ready for relaes early 2010. All of this is great news for anyone in the plumbing trade and their clients.