Manual Control Valves (MCVs)

Like remote control valves (RCVs), manual control valves (MCVs) turn on and off to make sprinklers start and stop. Unlike RCVs, however, MCVs lack a solenoid (and therefore are not wired to a controller). Instead, they are controlled by hand – manually, that is.

MCVs can be implemented in a system that is meant to be controlled completely by hand. They can also be used to expand an existing system that's managed by a controller. For example, an existing site might incorporate several RCVs managed, per usual, by a controller. The site owner might request an expansion of the system that's also tied into the mainline – some new garden areas, for example – but didn't have extra wires for those valves, or the budget to install extra wires. In this case, these garden zones could still be run manually, meaning someone would need to go to the site and turn them on/off each time the site needs to be irrigated.