Where is your main water shutoff? Find it before you need it

When a pipe lets go or a water heater starts leaking, the first thing that helps is shutting off the water. The time to find that valve is now, not with water on the floor.

On city water

Your water meter sits in a box near the street. Do not plan on using it. Many water providers do not want homeowners touching the meter. The City of Glennville, for one, counts turning the meter off yourself as tampering, with a $100 fee. Ask your water provider what its rules are.

Your own shutoff is on the house side. It is often where the water line comes into the house: in the crawl space, near the water heater, or on an outside wall near a hose bib. Some homes also have a separate valve for the owner's use in its own small box close to the meter.

On a well

A home on a private well has no meter and no water department to call. To shut the water off, Nebraska Extension's guidance for well owners is to turn off the well pump at its switch or breaker, then close the valve on the water line after the pressure tank, because the tank still holds water.

If the water will be off for a while and hot water is leaking or still being used, the same guidance says you may want to turn off the water heater, so its tank does not drain and overheat.

Test it before you need it

Turn it by hand only, and gently. If it is stiff, do not force it or put a wrench on it. An old valve can break or start to drip when it is forced. Leave it as it is and give us a call. Do this test on a weekday morning, so help is a phone call away if the valve sticks or starts to drip.

If it turns easily, close it and open a faucet to make sure the water actually stops. Then label the valve so everyone at home knows where it is.

A valve that never gets turned can stick. Water utilities suggest turning yours off and back on, by hand, a couple of times a year to keep it working.

On a lever-style valve, the handle lined up with the pipe means open, and the handle sitting crosswise means closed.

If your shutoff will not turn, leaks when you turn it, or you cannot find one at all, give us a call.

While you are at it: a quick leak check

EPA's WaterSense program suggests reading your water meter before and after a two-hour stretch when no water is being used. If the reading changes at all, you probably have a leak.

Sources: City of Glennville, application for service; City of Dahlonega, meter shutoff; City of Decatur, Indiana, meter and main valve; Alameda County Water District, house valve; Fulton County, meter installation standard; Nebraska Extension, private well components; EPA WaterSense.