Westbrass 1/2" Shower Arm Volume Control Trickle Valve, Polished Chrome, D309-26

Nice fit and finish. Easy to install and use.

Pros:Well made. Heavy. All metal. Stainless steel externals, brass internals. Zero plastic found anywhere on this unit. Fits my shower fixtures perfectly.Cons:The picture does not match the item sent. Deducting 1 star. I have low clearance from the threads to the shower head so I wanted a 1/4 turn ball valve with a short-winged knob. I won't know if this one will hit my shower head until I do the final installation (which has to wait until the contractor is done building the shower). There are dozens of these ball valves on Amazon with the long-winged knob. I picked this one specifically because the knob wings look shorter in the picture. Oh well. Might as well keep it and try it.Fitment has some quality issues. There is some lateral play in the shaft. Could mean leaks later.The wings do not match up parallel to the body when fully opened either. It's a few degrees off. I don't know if this is a design feature or a flaw. Removing the screw to reposition the knob doesn't help because it's knurled.Also, as with every one of these I've read reviews about, the inner valve hole is only about 1/4" diameter. Definitely not full flow. Probably the unit's biggest flaw. This could offer a serious restriction if you expect full flow. I understand the whole purpose of these valves is for water savings. But let me decide that with the position of the knob!In my case, I live in a region where water cannot be "wasted" in a shower and need not be "saved". Fresh water comes from one of 3 rivers, and the sewage is processed and dumped back into the same river system. It's a closed loop. No "waste". The only reason I need to save water is because in the winter, the hot water runs out faster. So I like to quickly shut it off while soaping up. I only care about on and off. Nothing in between.

I'm an older, reasonably handy homeowner, now retired from an office job. We live in a 100 year-old house. Our children are grown and gone, our grandkids no longer take baths, so a couple of years ago when we revovated our bathroom we had our contractor tear out the cast ion bathtub and create a walkin shower with a bench and 2 shower heads so that in our dotage we will be able to sit and shower. We picked out brushed nickel shower fixtures with a single handle shower control. It does a great job of keeping the water temp balanced but does not let us control the flow. I like to set the water temp, soap up with the water on a soft "trickle", and rinse with a full stream. So I purchased this valve to control the water flow at the shower head.Unlike the metal-colored plastic junk you find at the big box stores, this valve is all metal brass fitting. I bought the one with a brushed nickel finish. It fits a standard half-inch shower pipe and adds about one-and-a-half inches to the length of the shower pipe. It matches the shower head perfectly. It was easy to install (I don't do plumbing). I used a cresent wrench to lossen the shower head from the pipe and unscrewed it by hand. I removed the flow restricter from the shower head. On the advice of a plumber friend I did buy a 79 cent roll of white teflon plumber's tape and put about 5 turns of tape on the pipe threads, although I don't think it was critical to do that. (Google it to learn how to wrap tape correctly.) I screwed on both the valve and shower head hand-tight so the fittings were tight but I did not "crank down" with the wrench.Works perfectly! As others have mentioned the valve does not completely shut off the water flow and is designed to close to a trickle. I liked it so much I bought a second valve for my other shower head which is on a hose.

I like stinging needles of hot water when I shower, scouring my skin as it rinses away dirt and soap. Before we installed this valve I would have rated our shower as "adequate," at best. My wife likes a gentle sprinkle on her shoulders. She thought our shower was too strong. We both like to turn off the water while we lather, or at least slow it to a trickle, without changing the temperature setting. A control valve seemed like an ideal solution. I specifically looked for a ball valve when comparing valves on Amazon because, when properly sized, the flow channel through the ball should be the same size as the interior diameter of the pipe it's mounted in so it doesn't restrict the flow. I was disappointed when this valve arrived because I could see the valve was undersized and the flow channel was much smaller than the pipe. Fortunately it did not restrict the flow as much as I feared, so I would now rate our shower as "barely adequate." My wife loves this valve as she can turn the flow down as much as she wishes. It makes a slight hissing noise when partially closed, but the noise isn't objectionable. It shuts the water down to a trickle when closed, as it's supposed to, and the nickel finish matches our existing shower very well. It appears to be well made. I would rate the product as a "3" because of the restriction when wide open, but my wife thinks it's a "5" so I compromised and rated it a "4."

Accurate description. Works great. Doesn't stop water, just adjust stream.

All good (quality, ease of fitting, ease of use, effectiveness). One star off because it is noisier than I believe it could be.

A bit pricy but it looks great and works well