Though BSC has long been established as a provider of industrial mechanical componentry, the company can now assist customers on the plumbing side – through their unique partnership with Dixon Asia Pacific
“While BSC stands for ‘Bearing Service Company’, and most customers know us for bearings and power transmission, we have grown our value proposition to include a range of plumbing products and technical services for our customers,” explains BSC Industrial Hose Solutions Manager, Peter Stonehouse. “One of our key points of difference is product diversity – and plumbing adds to the basket of goods we can offer.”
Importantly, BSC and Dixon Asia Pacific can both tap into a global network of supply and technical support through their respective owning companies – Inenco Industrial Solutions and Dixon Valve and Coupling Company in the United States – whilst providing a highly localised service to customers.
“Through our partnership with Dixon, we provide distribution and interface with customers. This includes a range of products that can be utilised in the water and wastewater sector,” Stonehouse clarifies. “The Dixon stockholding from their global supply and coverage around Australia is very efficient in terms of providing technical advice or procurement of product for our branches. Additionally, we have our own technical and engineering expertise and provide immense value to customers through offering a multitude of fit for purpose componentry.”
Within that componentry, are the valves used in fluid transfer. These include knife gate and butterfly valves, with the former commonly used in sewage collection.
“A knife gate valve is used when you’ve got solids, because the knife valve will actually punch down and seal off,” explains Stonehouse. “For this reason, knife gate valves are typically used on the back of the vacuum trucks to transport wastewater to plants to get processed. They’re especially suited to this task because when you operate the valve down, you’ve got metal to metal contact and it will squash any of the solids in the valley of the valve.”
According to David Anderson, Valve Category Manager for Dixon Asia Pacific, the Dixon uni-directional knife gate valves are particularly suited to these types of water and wastewater applications because they have a full stainless-steel body and bubble tight shut off.
“These are compact and light weight, but are made with SS316 marine grade stainless steel, which is long lasting and wear-resistant. Importantly, they will not leak because of their shut off and can be remotely operated with a pneumatic cylinder that uses the truck’s air system when automation is required,” Anderson says. “Furthermore, they are fully lugged to AS2129 table D, which provides more secure and stable jointing to pipes and prevents leakages through threads.”
Additional features of the Dixon knife gate valve include the hard chrome plating, which prevents pitting and corrosion, and a stainless-steel guard that prevents semi solids from clogging the valve stem.
“Dixon is a market leader that is recognised for product quality and the knife gate is no exception to this,” Anderson says. “Ultimately this valve offers more features than many other valves on the market, but at a similar cost.”
And while they are used in a different water and wastewater contexts, the Dixon butterfly valve offerings also have a competitive edge that – combined with the collaborative technical expertise of BSC and Dixon – make them attractive options for customers. These are primarily used at the final stage of water treatment before water is dispatched to industry.
“Butterfly valves are designed to isolate or regulate the flow of fluid, so when water has finished being treated at a water plant – and when there are no impurities in the water – this is where actuated butterfly valves will be used; they will isolate and regulate the flow of water coming out,” explains Stonehouse. “Butterfly valves convey a number of benefits in this type of application. They are easier to handle and install because they are lighter weight and need less support. They are also generally most cost-effective than other valve designs that facilitate the same application. This is because they have less expensive requirements and less weight – basically these valves are put between two flanges so to replace the valve you just have to undo the bolts holding it into place.”
According to Anderson, customers have access to Dixon’s wafer, lugged, double flanged and high-performance butterfly valves through BSC.
“One of the key features of the Dixon butterfly valves is that they have universal flanges. So, the one valve suits various flanges including table D, E, ANSI 125/150, Din10, Din16 and JIS,” he says. “There’s also greater choice of actuation options with the top flange mount which complies with the international standard ISO 5211. Additionally, Dixon butterfly valves from 2’ to 24” are 16 bar rated – unlike some other suppliers who can only supply 10 Bar rated valves from 14” to 24”.”
Importantly, Stonehouse points out that in addition to a wide range of different types of butterfly valves and body materials, Dixon also supplies Watermark Certified butterfly valves for water and wastewater applications. Facilitated through the Australian Building Codes Board, the WaterMark Certification Scheme is a mandatory certification scheme for plumbing and drainage products. This is to ensure they are fit for purpose and appropriately authorised for use in plumbing and drainage installations1.
That is another reason Stonehouse says Dixon makes for a great partner – providing an excellent value proposition to customers with superior product and expertise. Anderson concurs.
“Both Dixon and BSC are technically competent organisations in their own right, with national and global footprints. But in this instance, the end user customers benefit from their complementing and diverse product offering and expertise. It creates a unique value proposition.”
References:
- Australian Building Codes Board, WaterMark Certification Scheme:
https://www.abcb.gov.au/Product-Certification/WaterMark-Certification-Scheme
