The valve springs.
The intake and exhaust valves in an internal combustion engine remain closed primarily due to the force of valve springs. These springs exert pressure on the valves, ensuring they stay seated against their respective seats when not activated. Additionally, the camshaft controls the timing of the valve openings, pushing the valves open at precise intervals during the engine’s cycle, while the springs pull them closed again when the camshaft lobe rotates away.
NO In the old days we sed to do this and a proccess called "Lapping" to get a perfect seal between the Valve and seat. Today with special coatings and special materials used in in valves and valve seats any grinding process can seriously damage the valves and seats.
It closes and keeps the VALVES shut when needed.
A machine shop that rebuilds engines has equipment to regrind the valves and valve seats.
Wafer and lug style butterfly valves don't require a separate gasket. The same gasket acts as a seat and a seal against the flanges that hold the valve in place. An AWWA butterfly is flanged and would require flange gaskets to seal against the flanges on the pipe. The seat on an AWWA butterfly valves is to provide a seal to stop the flow of water only.
Valves
Valves
The head has to be removed then the valves removed, the seats ground and the valvs either ground or replaced.
You'll need to remove the heads and have a machine shop replace the valves, and possibly valve seats. Replacing valves is NOT a job for your average do it yourselfer. Even if the seats are fine, you need special tools to cut them for the new valves. You will also need to use lapping compound to seat the new valves to the new, or re-cut seats. If you want it done right, just pull them off and take them to the machine shop.
Pressure There are also one way valves in the circulatory system.
There are a few different designs: Parallel disk gate valves use two disks with a spring in between them, sliding into the seats. At low pressure, the spring forces the disks outward against the seats, sealing off the valve. At high pressure, all the sealing is accomplished by the downstream disk. Wedge gate valves use a tapered disk that slides into two seats set at a slight, converging angle. The wedging action provides the sealing force between the disk and the seat. Single disk gate valves are used where the flow is always one way (like sluices on dams). There is some flexibility in the attachment of the disk to the stem, so the differential pressure on the disk pushes it against the seat, sealing it off.
That is a very involved process. But, in a nutshell: 1. remove engine. 2. remove heads. 3. remove springs, seals, and valves. 4. Get a machine shop to remachine your valve seats. 5. lap the seats to the valves (the valves will not be interchangeable at that point). 5. Put everything back together.