How to shut off the water to your house, in case of an emergency!
Have you ever had a pipe burst or a large leak or the line to your water heater decided to give out and water is going everywhere and couldn’t figure out how to stop it? You called the plumber and they can’t be there for several hours, or even several days. You obviously need to stop this water from flowing until the plumber can get there, so you need to figure out how to shut the water off to the whole house!
While waking up or walking into a pool of water on your floor or in your cabinet can be a very scary and anxiety inducing thing, it does not have to be the end of the world if you just know how to stop it from the main water box until someone can get there to fix the root of the problem. Having the knowledge of how to do this in case this does ever happen to you can save you money in the long run so that maybe you can save those expensive floors or maybe even keep you from having to replace the whole cabinet under your sink.
Thankfully Plumbing M.D. is here to save the day and show you where to find your water meter box (in most cases) so you can shut off the water and stop this continuous flowing of water until a plumber can come fix the issue! Having to shut off the water to your whole house while having to wait for the plumber to show up could be extremely inconvenient, but it will be worth it in the long run when you aren’t having to replace floors or cabinets.
There are a couple ways that you can shut off your water in case of an emergency. The first is to locate the shut-off valve. This is typically located where the water line comes into the house, usually on an exterior wall close to the front of the house. The valve will be inside of the house. This shut-off valve can typically be turned off by hand with no tools. Once you located this valve, turn it clockwise and this will shut off the water to the whole house and hopefully stop the leak quickly until a plumber can get there.
The second way to shut off water to the whole house in case of an emergency is to locate the water meter box. These concrete or plastic boxes are usually located close to the street so that they can easily be read by your county’s water service. It is important to find this box before you have an emergency like a pipe burst, or water flowing from under your cabinet because these boxes sometimes can be difficult to find due to a lot of growth and vegetation around it. Plan ahead! It is the homeowners responsibility to keep this box accessible in case of an emergency. Keeping the water meter box free of debris and vegetation will help you in the long run in case of an emergency, plus your county’s water service will appreciate it! The valve should be connected in line with the water meter, but closer to the street. The same as the valve located on the exterior wall of your home, turn the valve clockwise to shut off the water. Having this knowledge will help prevent further destruction in case of an emergency.
For help with any issues such as a busted pipe, faucet leaking, or a water heater issue please don’t hesitate to give us a call!
Plumbing M.D.
205-353-7790
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