Val-Matic History

Quality Products for over 57 years

Val-Matic® Valve & Mfg. Corp. is a leading manufacturer of check valves, quarter turn shut-off valves and air valves for water/wastewater, industrial and building markets. Valve types include Tilted Disc®, Dual Disc®, Swing-Flex®, Surgebuster®, Silent Check Valves, Eccentric Plug Valves, AWWA Butterfly Valves, Air Valves, Foot Valves, VaultSafe® products, Ener-G® AWWA Rubber Seated Ball Valves, Smart Control Systems, and QuadroSphere® Trunnion-Mounted Ball Valves.

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Val-Matic® was founded in 1966 by Andrew Nuter and Ted Makowan with one product line: the Silent Check Valve. Within a year, work had begun on Val-Matic’s second product line, Air Valves, which would become the Company’s signature product line, the one in which it is most readily identified with. Today, Val-Matic manufactures nine types of air valves and is the leading supplier of air valves in North America.

The Company would then introduce both its Dual Disc® (1980) and Tilted Disc® (1981) check valve lines. In 1985, the Company built a new 38,500 square foot facility in Elmhurst, IL. The new facility would see the introduction of the Swing-Flex® Check Valve (1986) and the Cam-Centric® Plug Valve (1987).

In 1994, the Elmhurst facility was expanded to 80,000 square feet and in 2001 to 118,000 square feet. Also in 1994, the Company released a new rectangular ported Cam-Centric® Plug Valve line.

In 1999, the Company acquired the rights to the American-Darling AWWA Butterfly Valve line. This would take the Company up to 144-inch diameter valves, the largest in the Company’s history. In 2003, the Surgebuster® product line would be introduced. This would be the third variation of the Swing-Flex® leading to the expression “The Swing-Flex® family of Check Valves”.

Then in 2005, the FloodSafe® Inflow Preventer was developed in response to customer inquiries. The FloodSafe® is the first product of its type and is designed to prevent the entry of contaminated water or other fluids from entering the air valve outlet and subsequently the pipeline. In 2006, Val-Matic released the Ener-G® AWWA Rubber Seated Ball Valve, the most advanced quarter-turn valve yet. The same year, Val-Matic released AWWA Cylinder Actuators and Smart Control Systems to provide turn-key Hydraulic Power Systems, Hydraulic Control Systems, and Smart Electric Control Systems for Ener•G® Ball Valve pumping applications.

In 2013, Val-Matic acquired a 60,000 square foot building in Addison, Illinois, bringing the total facility footprint to 178,000 SF of manufacturing and office space. The new facility is utilized for large valve production and is also home to the Engineering Research and Development personnel and the Engineering Laboratory and Flow Loop. The facilities are equipped with a vast array of welding, machining, and testing equipment to make valves in the U.S. to meet AIS and Buy-America requirements.

In 2014, the QuadroSphere® Ball Valve was acquired and meets the demands of severe service applications in many industries such as Oil & Gas Production and Pipelines, Refining, Geothermal, Power, Chemical, Pulp & Paper, Cryogenic and Mining/Steel.

In 2020, Val-Matic was acquired by A.Y. McDonald Industries, a family-owned corporation and manufacturer of products for the waterworks and gas industries. 

From those humble beginnings, Val-Matic® has become one of the premier valve manufacturers in the United States and is well-respected throughout the world for high quality products and an ongoing commitment to customer service. The Company’s corporate headquarters and manufacturing are based in the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst, IL.

Val-Matic is an ISO 9001:2015 Certified Company.

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