Key takeaways
- The house main shutoff is where the service line enters the house; find it before you need it.
- Gate valves turn clockwise several times to close; ball valves close with a quarter turn.
- The meter box at the street usually has a valve too; it's the utility's and some ask you not to use it except in an emergency.
- On a well, the pump breaker stops the water; the valve after the pressure tank isolates the buried line.
Find the house shutoff
Follow the water. The service line enters the house at the foundation, almost always on the side facing the street or the meter. On a crawlspace home the valve is usually just inside the foundation wall near the access hatch, sometimes at the water heater, sometimes at a hose bib stub outside the foundation. On a slab home it's often in the garage or a utility closet where the line rises. On a basement home it's where the line comes through the wall. It may be a round-handled gate valve or a lever-handled ball valve. Find it on a calm day, make sure it turns, and tell everyone in the house where it is.
Turn it off
A gate valve with a round handle closes clockwise, several full turns, until it stops. Old gate valves can be stiff or can fail to seal fully; if yours is one of those, note it and have it replaced with a ball valve. A ball valve with a lever closes with a quarter turn so the lever sits across the pipe. Then open a faucet to drop the pressure and confirm the flow stops.
The meter valve
In the meter box at the street there's usually a valve on the utility side of the meter, closed with a quarter turn using a wrench or a meter key on the tab. Some utilities ask customers not to operate it, since a broken utility valve is their problem to fix. In an active flood with no working house valve, use it and tell the utility afterward. There may also be a valve on the house side of the meter that is yours.
Wells
On a private well, switch off the pump at its breaker in the panel or the disconnect at the well house. That stops water entering the system. To isolate the buried line for a leak test, close the valve after the pressure tank and the house main shutoff; a gauge at the tank then shows whether the buried line holds pressure.
Written by the crew at 360 Leak Finders
We locate, excavate and repair buried water lines and exterior drains across Kitsap County, 24 hours a day. If this guide raised a question about your property, call (206) 354-9906.