Please check out the basic block-diagram graphical representation of a check-valve configuration below. Many other variations are conceivable, including those where springs are placed in opposition to the flow plane, allowing for both pressure regulation and directional flow control using only one device (i.e. killing two birds with one stone, as it were)!
In hydroponics gardens, these valves can be used to control the nutrient solution and permit it to move only in one desired direction while inhibiting reverse flow the opposite way. This can be of great benefit where reservoirs are required to be filled on a repetitive basis for fertilizer nutrient solution storage, such as in hydroponics beds or trays where a minimal amount of watering cycles is favoured, or where a basin used to supply a gravity-fed system is present. This fertilizer nutrient storage can allow for prolonged pump life extension through reduction in usage.
Check-valves can also be used to prevent any damage from occurring due to the unwanted siphoning of nutrient solution into air pumps that are kept below the reservoir solution surface level.
These valves can be used in place of secondary regulated return lines to reduce initial capital expenditures. “One line” systems can require increased initial setup time to verify that the input pressure & flow rates are tolerable and within specified operating margins in order to prevent mishaps such as tray or reservoir overflow or pump problems.
Here are a couple of links you might want to check out to decrease your ignorance on the topic of check-valves:
http://www.flocontrol.com/check.htm
http://www.netafim.com/netafim/doa_iis.d...
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