nrp wrote:

I looked at the small brass ball valves at Home Depot. They sure are a
nice high quality ones - teflon seals and all.

I've had a failure rate of about 20% with the gate valves normally used for
water line shutoff valves. These are brass valves made in China or Indonesia.
The usual failure mode is leakage around the shaft collar. They can sometimes be
fixed by liberal applications of teflon sealant - attempting to tighten them up
usually strips the threads.

There's no way I would use a plumbing part from Home Depot or Lowes for an
application in which someone's life might depend on it.

George Patterson
He who tries to carry a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in
no other way.