3 Ways to Turn Off Your Water Supply Quick and Easy

Table Of Content

• How to Dechlorinate Tap Water: A Complete Guide
• The 11 Best Shower Faucets to Add Style and Function to Your Bathroom
• Locating a Water Meter & Emergency Service Valve
• Adding Plumbing, Appliances, Etc.
• Tips to Prevent Water Damage to Your House While You’re Away
• Shutting Off All the Water In Your House (Main Shut-Off Valve)

Don't let the tap run while you brush your teeth, wash your hands or shave. External stop taps (also known as stop valves or stop cocks) are used to isolate the water supply to your home or business. Ideally it should only be used by a qualified plumber or by the water supplier.

How to Dechlorinate Tap Water: A Complete Guide

When something goes wrong, however, and you have water spraying all over the floor, you need to know how to shut it off —fast. Our local leaders are facing the pressing question of how to ensure a clean, reliable water supply with strains from population growth, booming development, and global warming. There are a few simple things you can do at home to ease the burden on your local water supply and save money in the process. Your internal stop tap (also known as stop valve or stop cock) is the point where you can shut off the water supply to your home or business. Almost everywhere in the USA you can experience frozen pipes. Frozen pipes can lead to ruptures in the pipes or, more commonly, pipe joints that crack or burst.

The 11 Best Shower Faucets to Add Style and Function to Your Bathroom

He started his own residential service and repair plumbing business. Aaron's articles about plumbing on The Spruce span four years. As the UK's leading heating and plumbing supplier, PlumbNation can help you with various top-shelf products that will reduce the risk of water damage.

Locating a Water Meter & Emergency Service Valve

If the valve is significantly damaged, rusted, or worn, replace it immediately. However, if the valve seems like it’s in good shape, go ahead and test its functionality. When the water is off to the home, it cannot refill the toilet tank. So, if you flush the toilet when the water is off, the water from the tank will empty into the toilet bowl, leaving the tank empty until the water is turned back on. This means that the toilet can be flushed one time, even with the water off, but will not be able to be flushed again until the tank is refilled.

Adding Plumbing, Appliances, Etc.

Sinks will have two shut-off valves for the hot and cold water supply. Look for the shut-off valves below the sink, nearby where the water supply lines run up to the tailpieces on the faucet. If your sink is in a vanity or cabinet, you’ll need to open up the cabinet doors to find the valves. In colder climates, it’s usually in the basement on an interior wall near the front of the house. If your home was built on a slab, the valve could be located near the hot water heater or inside your garage. Temperature sensors can detect furnace breakdowns and can help prevent frozen pipes and resulting water damage when interior temperatures dip.

When to Shut Off Your Home’s Water Supply

Cleaning your gutters and making sure they’re functioning properly is one of the most essential tasks to do around the house. Downspouts should discharge water at least 10 ft. from the house. If you don’t already have one, it’s worth adding a backup battery to your sump pump so that it functions during power outages, which seem to go hand-in-hand with heavy rainstorms. Sump pump systems help keep groundwater out of your basement. Before you leave town, test your sump pump by filling the sump pit with water and making sure the pump is actually pumping out the water. If you have a well, shut off the electrical switch for the well when you leave for an extended period so it won’t pump any water while you’re gone.

Leaving your water flowing when the hot water heater gives out can lead to massive flooding. If you turn off the water supply and smell gas, you should leave your home immediately and call your gas company and a professional plumber. Yes, you can turn off the water supply to your home even if you don’t know anything about plumbing. Simply follow the steps in our guide, and you’ll be able to turn off the water supply in no time. If the valve is stuck, you can try using a wrench or pliers to turn the valve.

Shutting Off All the Water In Your House (Main Shut-Off Valve)

Bathrooms can account for about half of all indoor home water use. Regularly inspect your pipes, faucets, toilets and showerheads for leaks. Turning the valve clockwise will close it, reducing the amount of water passing through. To turn your water back on, simply turn the valve anti-clockwise.Turn it on and off slowly, never force it. If you over tighten or use excessive force you may damage the stop tap.

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Shutting Off the Water to Specific Appliances

These covers typically have the WM or W marks, indicating that these are main water covers. Inside, you'll find a stop tap that you'll turn clockwise to cut off the water supply and anticlockwise to turn it on. This detailed guide shares tips on cutting water supply to the entire building or specific appliances and fixtures. Gain insights into the basics of both to help you in any plumbing predicament that may come up.

If your shutoff valve looks like the one here, a saddle valve, consider replacing it with a standard shutoff valve. Saddle valves are notoriously leaky and prone to clogging, and they’re also against building codes in a lot of places. Once you locate the valve handle, turn it clockwise until it stops.

Turn on a sink located in the lowest level of your home, so water in the pipes from the floors above drain all the way down. Make sure to open both the hot and cold taps and run them until they empty completely. At this point, you can start working on any plumbing projects that require the water to be shut down. Since water supply valves aren't in any specific location in the house, you'll take more time to find them - the time you won't have if your ceiling is rapidly leaking water.

For example by leaving a stop tap cover open where it may trip up a pedestrian or damage a car. Hopefully, the repair work was scheduled, and you will not have to deal with a flood once you get the water supply shut down. You might need to cut off your water supply for several reasons. Part of maintenance and repair is knowing how to turn off the water in your house. While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information in this guide, we cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions.

A water flow sensor helps protect your home from water damage by monitoring water flow and shutting off the water supply if the flow exceeds a specified amount. They can be attached to your home’s main water supply line or in other spots around the house to help prevent flooding and water damage. When a home’s water supply system leaks or a repair to one of the plumbing fixtures is needed, you’ll have to shut off the water. It’s best to do this at the valve that’s closest to the problem. That way, the rest of the house will still have a functioning water supply.