How to shut off the water to your house
The main shutoff is usually where the water line comes into the house: in the crawlspace near the front foundation wall, in the garage or utility room, next to the water heater, or on an outside wall. Turn a round handle clockwise until it stops, or turn a lever handle a quarter turn so it sits crosswise to the pipe. If you can’t find it or it won’t move, call your water utility and ask them to shut it off at the meter. Some meter valves turn by hand, but they belong to the utility, and an old one can break.
Where is the main water shutoff?
Start on the side of the house that faces the street. The line usually runs from a meter near the road more or less straight to the house, and the valve tends to be wherever it comes through the wall or floor.
A lot of North Alabama homes sit on crawlspaces. In those, the shutoff is often just inside the crawlspace where the pipe comes through the foundation. Bring a flashlight. Some crawlspace homes have a second valve up in the house too, usually in a utility room or near the water heater.
Slab homes have nowhere to hide it, so check these spots:
- The garage wall closest to the street, sometimes down low near the floor
- The laundry or utility room
- Next to the water heater, especially if it’s in a closet or the garage
- Outside near the foundation, sometimes close to a hose spigot or under a small lid in the ground
Some older houses have no shutoff at the house at all. If you’ve looked everywhere, the meter box is your only option until someone adds a valve. That’s a repair worth making before you need it.
How do you close it?
You’ll probably find one of two kinds.
A gate valve has a round handle, like the one on an old outdoor spigot. Turn it clockwise until it stops. It takes several full turns. Gate valves are the older style and they don’t age well. One that hasn’t been touched in years can be stiff or seized. Firm hand pressure is fine. Hanging on it with a big wrench is how the stem snaps, and then you’ve got a broken valve on top of the leak you started with.
A ball valve has a lever handle. Give it a quarter turn. When the lever runs along the pipe, it’s open. When it sits crosswise to the pipe, it’s closed. Ball valves are quicker and far more reliable, which is why plumbers usually install one when an old gate valve gets replaced.
Once it’s closed, open a faucet somewhere low in the house, like a tub. If the flow slows to nothing, you got it.
What about the shutoffs at each fixture?
If the problem is one toilet or one sink, leave the rest of the house alone. Most fixtures have their own small valve.
- Toilets have a small oval handle on the wall or floor behind them, usually low on the left.
- Sinks have two, one for hot and one for cold, inside the cabinet underneath.
- Washing machines have a hot and a cold valve in the wall box behind the washer.
- Water heaters have a valve on the cold water pipe going into the top of the tank.
These close clockwise, or a quarter turn for the lever kind. The little oval ones under sinks and toilets sometimes weep a drop or two after you move them. A gentle snug on the nut right behind the handle usually stops it.
What if the house valve won’t turn?
Go to the meter box. It’s usually near the street or the property line, under a concrete or plastic lid set flush with the ground. Lift the lid carefully. Spiders and fire ants love those boxes.
Inside you’ll find the meter and, usually on the street side of it, the utility’s shutoff. That valve belongs to the water utility. Some need a tool called a meter key, and some have a handle you can turn by hand. If you don’t have the right tool or can’t get to it safely, call your water utility and tell them you have a leak and need the water shut off at the meter. In Huntsville that’s Huntsville Utilities. Madison, Decatur and Athens each have their own.
Do you need to turn off the water heater too?
If the water’s only off for a few minutes, no. If it’ll be off for hours, or you’re draining the pipes, yes. Flip the breaker for an electric water heater. On a gas one, turn the control knob to pilot or off. An electric heater that switches on with a partly empty tank can burn out its heating elements fast.
When the water comes back on, let the tank fill and run a hot faucet until it flows steady with no sputtering. Then turn the power or gas back on. If you turned a gas unit all the way off, follow the lighting instructions on the label on the tank.
Find it and test it before you need it
The worst time to hunt for your shutoff is with water running across the kitchen floor. Do it on a slow Saturday instead. Find the valve, clear a path to it, and close it. Open a faucet to make sure the water actually stops, then open the valve all the way again.
If it’s stuck, or it doesn’t fully stop the water, you want to know that now. Replacing a bad main valve is a simple job to schedule on a normal day. And if you’re reading this because a pipe already let go, here’s what to do in the first 15 minutes.
Show everyone in the house where the valve is, too. Whoever’s home when a pipe breaks is the one who needs to know.