How to Shut Off Your Water in an Emergency

The time to find your shutoff is before water is running across the floor. Go look right now — it takes two minutes.

Where it is. The main shutoff is usually where the water line enters the house: on the basement or crawlspace wall facing the street, near the meter, or close to the water heater. On a slab, it may be outside near the front hose bib or in a covered box near the curb. On a well, it's usually right after the pressure tank.

What it looks like. Two kinds. A gate valve has a round wheel — turn it clockwise, and it takes several full turns. A ball valve has a lever — a quarter turn until the lever sits across the pipe instead of along it.

Shutting down.

1. Close the main.

2. Open a faucet at the lowest point in the house to drain the pressure out of the lines.

3. On a well, also switch the pump off at the breaker.

For one fixture only. Sinks and toilets have their own small shutoffs — oval knobs or small levers on the supply line. Use those for a single leaking fixture and the rest of the house keeps water.

Test it once a year. Valves seize when they sit untouched for a decade. Finding that out during an emergency is the wrong time.

When to call us instead. The valve won't turn, or turns but water keeps running. There's no shutoff you can find. Or the valve itself is what's leaking. Don't force a seized valve — an old gate valve can snap.