Friday, October 18, 2013

First Production Run

All injection molded components for the Dual-Action™ Check Modules used in the 2 1/2", 3", and 4" Deringer 20/30/40/50 have successfully passed first article inspection and are cleared for use in production. The first production run is shown below.

The first production run of custom 1/2" lead free ball valves for the smallest and lightest backflow bypass in the industry.

The first production run of the industry's first handleless tamper resistant 1/2" and 3/4" test cocks.

The first production run of custom lead free bronze components for the smallest and lightest backflow bypass in the industry.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

No More Prototypes!

No more prototypes! The plastic injection mold tooling for the Dual Action Check Modules for the 2 1/2"-4" Deringer 20-50 are complete. This allows us to make the many valves required for the approval process much more cost effectively.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Backflow Direct New Location

BACKFLOW DIRECT moved into this 45,000 sqft manufacturing facility on September 1, 2013 Doug Powell

Friday, December 7, 2012

Backflow Direct Chief Operations Officer

Untitled Document
Doug Powell

Aaron Colacchia joins the BACKFLOW DIRECT team as the Chief Operations Officer (COO) responsible for all business operations. 

Aaron has over 25 years of experience in design, engineering and manufacturing of backflow prevention products.

In 1988 he started with Ames Company as a design and manufacturing engineer involved in the development of the complete Silver Bullet backflow prevention product line. He succeeded in this role up to Watts Industries' acquisition of Ames in 1996.

In 1997 he became the COO of Hunter Innovations, the developer of the Colt/Maxim product line where he served in this capacity until Watts acquired Hunter Innovations in 2003. Aaron joined the Watts organization where he served as the Plant Manager for Ames (a subsidiary of Watts) until 2008.

In 2009 Doug Powell and Aaron Colacchia partnered in the acquisition of MetalCloak a manufacturer of high end aftermarket off-road vehicle products. Under new ownership the traditional tiered marketing approach for MetalCloak was immediately changed to an internet based, direct to customer sales model. MetalCloak has averaged annual sales growth of more than 100% since the transition to a direct to customer sales model.

The backflow prevention industry meets all of the parameters necessary for a successful direct to end user internet sales model. Aaron's experience with the backflow industry and the direct sales model is the perfect combination to lead BACKFLOW DIRECT to the position of industry leader.

Backflow Direct Product Manager

Untitled Document
Doug Powell

Matt Longo joins the BACKFLOW DIRECT team as the PRODUCTION MANAGER responsible for the manufacture and quality control of the Deringer backflow prevention product line. 

Matt has over 5 years of experience as a Production Manager at Hunter Innovations, developer of the Colt/Maxim backflow product lines, acquired by Watts (2002). He followed the acquisition of Hunter Innovations, to Ames Company, where for more than 8 years he was a Production Manager responsible for the manufacture of the Colt/Maxim backflow prevention product lines. 

His nearly 14 years of experience in the manufacture of backflow prevention products will be critical as we strive to become the market leader in the backflow prevention industry.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Eccentric-Seal Shutoff Valve US Patent Filing

Backflow Direct filed for US Patent: Eccentric-Seal™ Shutoff Valve December 4, 2012

Eccentric Seal Shut-Off Valve

The only large diameter STAINLESS STEEL shutoff valves in the Backflow Industry. The Patent Pending Eccentric-Seal™ Shutoff Valve has a unique feature in that the inlet shutoff valve sealing disk seals on the downstream side of the valve operation shaft. This allows the #1 test cock to be located adjacent to the valve operation shaft reducing the overall length of the valve (and weight) by at least 2 inches. Additional features and benefits include:

  • ONLY STAINLESS STEEL SHUTOFF VALVES IN BACKFLOW!
  • Self-centering disk seal
  • Bolt-on replaceable shutoff disks
  • Low torque valve operation
  • Disk replacement does not require elastomer compression
  • Elimination of seal around valve shaft
  • Stainless steel shutoff disk
  • The entire valve operation shaft is a single component