How To Locate and Shut-Off Your Main Water Valve

There are a number of reasons why you might want to shut off water to your house. You might just want to do some repairs or maintenance on your house, such as if you have a water leak. Although it’s also possible you could have an emergency. If you ever have an emergency, you’ll definitely want to know where your main water supply valve is. Houses can vary a lot, but we are going to give some tips on where to find your main water shut-off valve.

The Importance of Knowing Where Your Main Water Shut-Off Valve Is

It’s crucial to know how to shut off the main supply of water to your house. You could find some time that you have a major water leak in your house, and you need to shut off the water quickly. If you don’t know how to find the main shut-off valve for your water, you could sustain major water damage to your house before you are able to find the valve. Therefore, it’s important to learn where this main shut-off valve is ahead of time. However, this is not always easy. The main shut-off valve for water can sometimes be very difficult to find. They can be placed in many different locations depending on your home.

Types of Water Shut-Off Valves

Most homes will have one inside shut-off valve or shut-off tap as well as an external stop tap, which will be located outside of the home. The internal shut-off valve is the one you are most likely to want to find. The external stop tap is likely only going to be used by a plumber or your water company. Although in the case of an emergency, you will want to know where this external stop tap is located so you can help a plumber should you need to contact one.

Locating Your Water Shut-Off Valve

Sometimes finding the inside water shut-off valve can be difficult because they can be hard to recognize. You might need to do a bit of careful trial and error to be able to locate the correct valve. Some homes have a number of shut-off valves. Oftentimes homes will have a shut-off valve before and after the water meter. But your home probably has a better way to quickly shut off the water supply.

Most homes will have a water main that enters the home, possibly near the kitchen. There could be a shut-off valve located in this area that will give you an easy way to shut off your home’s water supply. One way to try and locate this valve is to try to trace the pipes from the water meter to where they enter the house. This will probably be somewhere around the kitchen or basement. Once you figure out where the pipes enter the house, you can look on the inside of the house in this area, and you will likely find the main water shut-off valve.

Contact Us

For more information on finding your main water shut-off valve or for scheduling an appointment for us to find it for you, call J Griffin Heating and Plumbing at 781-520-1212 or connect with us on Facebook.