What are those valves good for anyway?
If you have more than one suction inlet and/or more than one return outlet, the valves are good if you want to be able to concentrate the suction to one inlet (in my case I have a main drain and 1 skimmer.....for vacuuming, I dont need the main drain so I turn the valve more towards the skimmer to provide more suction there and less at the drain). I havent found a really great use for being able to close off a return, other than when one breaks (like mine did last year), I was able to at least slow down the leak by turning the valve a little towards the working return (dont want to close down one return completely or you risk the piping not being able to handle all the pressure going to the remaining return).
Basically it looks like valves add a little flexibility in how your system works. If you dont have multiple inlets and returns, they might not be as useful for you. Personally, Im glad I have at least the inlet valve, because it makes vacuuming more effective. Not sure how close a ball valve could be put near your SWG if you wanted one on the output, Id ask the SWG manufacture if you were interested.
-Chris
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