Quality control /assurance is sometime taken for granted. After all there is a minimum level of confidence that we expect in terms of quality from equipment supplied for projects. For example, see the picture below of a check valve that has a flow direction arrow cast into the body of the valve. That arrow is basically sacred for properly installing the check valve. I would call it QA check #1!! Well after spending hours trying to purge through this check valve we called the supplier whose first question as expected was is it installed with the arrow pointing in the right direction. They even made us send a picture to verify. They did not have any answers, but they did call back in about an hour as they had another valve in their warehouse which they took apart. And as incredible as it sounds they confirmed that the arrow was wrong!!!! Oh my gosh!!! The level of incompetency that exists in this world never ceases to amaze me. As a good engineer we have to remember to never trust anything. The noted French philosopher Rene Descartes once said, “If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.” This check valve flow arrow is about as far as possible that I want to go! Give me a dang arrow that is correct!!
