How to Turn Off the Water to Your House

Shutting off the main water supply to your home seems simple, but surprisingly, many homeowners don’t know how to do it or even where to look.

Cutting off the water supply to your home may be necessary in the event of a burst water pipe, leak, or any serious plumbing repair. Knowing where and how to find the water main shut-offs can save you time and money in an emergency.

Read on to learn the proper way to turn off the water supply to your house.

Turning off the water to your house is usually as easy as turning a single handle or knob. A system of pipes, including a main water line, supplies your home with water. Every system has a mechanism — a valve — to stop and start (open and close) your house’s water supply.

The valve is typically a lever, handle, or knob. The main water cut-off valve can normally be turned by hand without tools.

Usually, you would turn off the water to your house at the main shut-off valve somewhere in or around your home. You can also turn the water off at your home’s water meter, but this is usually harder to locate and may require a special key to access the meter box.

The location of your main water shut-off valve can vary depending on your home. In warmer climates, the water cut-off valves are usually outdoors, and in colder climates, they are indoors. The main water shut-off valves have either lever or round wheel handles.

Home water shut-off valves are typically found in the following locations in or around your house:

• Outside water shut-off valves: Could be outdoors along an exterior wall, perhaps near a hose, where the main water line enters your house.

• In basements: It may be found near the front foundation wall inside the home. The main water line usually comes through the basement concrete floor or wall. In some cases, the main water could enter through a different area, such as near the furnace or water heater.

• In crawl spaces with a basement: It can be found where water enters the basement. In older homes, the water cut-off valve can be located inside the crawl space. It is usually ideal to have a secondary shut-off valve for water pipes in the living space (under a sink or near the water heater).

• In crawl spaces without a basement: It can be found near the water heater or under the kitchen sink, but anywhere is possible. Sometimes, the shut-off valve is found on a pipe near the water heater and may have a red handle.

• In slab-on-grade construction: It may be located inside the home near the water heater or under the kitchen sink but can also be found elsewhere.

Once you’ve found the main water shut-off valve, you can turn off the water to your house. Depending on your home’s age and construction, you may encounter a few different main water line turn-off valve types:

Round wheel handle (gate) valves will close (turn off) by turning the handle to the right (clockwise). A few turns should stop the wheel.

Handle (ball) valves should be slowly turned clockwise 1/4 turns. The handle should no longer parallel the pipe and stop at a 1/4 turn.

Another way to shut off the water to your house is at the meter, where the water comes to your property from the municipality. This shut-off valve is normally inside an underground ‘pit’ or buried ‘box’ near the property line. These ‘pits’ usually have a cover that reads “WATER METER” and can be removed to give direct access to the valve.

This valve usually shuts off water to the entire property, including sprinkler systems and outside hoses. Sometimes, your meter box will have a lid that can’t be lifted without a certain water meter key, a long, T-shaped key you can usually purchase at a hardware store.

Once you open the meter box, you will notice two valves. One is a customer shut-off valve, and the other is for city use in case the municipality ever needs to shut the water off to your property.

Don’t touch the city valve. The customer shut-off valve that you can operate is between your property and the meter, usually the valve closer to your home. You can turn this valve to turn off the water. You should be able to turn this valve by hand.

Typically, turning the water off at the meter isn’t as easy as turning the water off at the main valve in or just outside your house. Finding the water meter box isn’t always easy. It’s usually somewhere in the yard near the property line, but overgrown plants and grass could hide it from plain sight.

Also, possibly needing a special key and being wary of the city’s valve further complicate turning the water off at the meter. Additionally, some cities don’t want residents fussing with their water meters, so it’s best to use your home water shut-off valve in most instances.

While water meter boxes in yards are common in Florida, many homes in the North with basements will have the water shut-off valve in the basement, often on or near the wall closest to the street.

Since the main water line comes into your house from the street, the water turn-off valve is usually on a front-facing wall closest to the road, so it connects with the main water line as it comes into the house through the basement.

Basement water turn-off valves are usually gate or ball valves. Gate valves are more common in older houses and consist of a round knob that you must rotate several times to turn the main water line off.

Ball valves, on the other hand, have one handle or lever you must turn to turn off the water. Ball valves tend to be quicker because it takes one or two turns of the handle to turn the water off completely.

If you’re turning off the water to your house, either to work on a leak or to prevent freezing pipes during winter, you may want to take some precautions to not leave standing water in your pipes, which could cause problems down the road.

You can open tub and sink faucets on the highest level or floor to relieve pressure and ensure a full shutdown. Continue to open faucets inside the home to drain the pipes as needed.

When draining the water from your home, it is important to shut off power to electric water heaters and boilers. This de-energizes the water heater and boiler. In the case of gas water heaters, shut off the gas to the heater.

It is important to note that if a water turn-off valve is difficult to turn – DO NOT force it. Call a licensed plumber or the local public works authority for assistance.

You should open the faucets (turn them on) shortly after you turn off the main water to your house to drain the pipes, and if you’re leaving the water off for an extended period, you should keep the faucets open while it’s off.

Opening the faucets drains the pipes once you turn the water off. Leaving them open prevents any pressure build-up, which can help in cold weather climates to avoid water freezing in the pipes, which can cause major issues as pipes can expand, crack, and burst.

When turning the water back on to your house, you must be careful not to let air and water rush back into the pipes too quickly. You should turn the water back on slowly. Open one or two faucets before turning the water back on, then incrementally restore water until you see it freely flowing out of the open fixture.

When turning the water back on after a shut-off, turn the water-cutoff valve counter-clockwise slowly (and extra slow for lever handles) to return the water supply. You should stop turning after half revolution on a wheel handle and one-eighth of a turn for lever handles.

You may hear water and air from the faucet you left open. Once the water pressure equalizes (intermittent noise ends from faucets), fully open the main valve. Bleed air from lines by slowly opening all water lines to the property, waiting until the noise ends.

It is important to note that the power should only be returned to electric water heaters and boilers after the water system is completely full and all air has been bled out. If the gas for a gas heater was shut off, carefully follow the restarting instructions located on the appliance jacket or call a licensed plumber or gas company for assistance.