How to Shut Off Your Water in an Emergency

Knowing how to shut off water to your whole home is the single most useful plumbing skill you can have. In most Florida slab homes, the main shut-off valve is outside: either a valve on the pipe where it comes out of the ground beside the house, or a valve in the meter box near the street. Turn it clockwise, or a quarter turn if it has a lever, and the water to the house stops. The best time to find it is today, before anything has burst.

Why the valve is outside in a slab home

Homes in colder places often have the main valve in a basement where the line enters through the foundation. Florida homes are built on concrete slabs with no basement, and the water line usually comes up out of the ground on an outside wall. Because pipes here do not freeze, there is no need to bring that valve indoors.

That makes the valve easy to reach, but it also means it can be hidden behind shrubs, under a decorative cover, or behind a hose reel, and it may not have been turned in years.

Where to look

Learning how to shut off water starts with finding the valve. Check these places, in roughly this order:

1. Where the line enters the house. Walk the outside walls, especially the front and the side nearest the street, looking for a pipe rising from the ground with a valve on it. It is often near a hose bib, and in many homes it is close to the garage or on the wall behind the water heater.
2. The garage. Some homes have the main valve inside the garage, near the water heater or where the supply line enters through the wall.
3. The meter box. Near the street or the edge of the property, there is usually a ground-level box with a lid, often marked “water”. Inside is the meter, and there may be a valve on the house side of it that you can turn. The valve on the street side belongs to the utility, and some utilities ask that only their staff operate it, so check your utility’s guidance.
4. An irrigation line. Some homes have a separate valve or meter for the sprinklers. Do not confuse it with the main. Shutting the irrigation valve will not stop a leak in the house.

In a condo or apartment, the valve for your unit is usually inside it: in the water heater closet, under the kitchen sink, in a utility closet, or behind an access panel near the bathroom. The building’s main is controlled by the association or building staff. Ask the association where your unit’s valve is, if you do not know.

Once you find the valve, label it with a tag, and make sure everyone in the house knows where it is.

How to shut off water at the main valve

There are two common types of valve, and they turn differently.

• Ball valve. A lever handle. Turn it a quarter turn, so the handle sits across the pipe rather than along it. That is fully closed.
• Gate valve. A round wheel handle. Turn it clockwise until it stops. It may take several turns.

Then open a faucet inside the house, preferably on the lowest floor. If the flow slows to a trickle and stops, the water is off.

If the valve will not move by hand, do not force it with a long wrench or a hammer. Old gate valves can seize, and forcing them can snap the stem or break the pipe, which turns one leak into two. Use the meter box valve instead if you can, or call your utility.

The first two minutes of a burst pipe

When a pipe bursts or a supply line lets go, speed matters more than anything else. Here is the order that keeps damage down:

1. Shut off the water. Go straight to the main valve, or to the fixture’s own valve if the leak is clearly at one toilet or sink and you can reach it safely. Do not spend time looking for the leak first.
2. Keep away from electricity. If water is near outlets, power strips or appliances, do not touch them while standing in water. If you can reach the breaker panel without walking through water, switch off the circuits for the wet area.
3. Turn off the water heater. With the supply off, an electric tank should be switched off at its breaker, and a gas tank set to its pilot or vacation setting. This keeps the heater from running while the water is off.
4. Open a low faucet. Opening a faucet on the lowest level, or an outside hose bib, drains the water still in the pipes and relieves pressure on the break.
5. Start moving water and valuables. Lift what you can off the floor, and start mopping or using towels.
6. Take photos. Photograph the leak and the damage before cleanup, for your insurance.

What not to touch

Some things are best left alone in an emergency:

• Electrical outlets, panels and appliances in standing water. If you cannot reach the breaker panel safely, leave the area and call for help.
• Gas valves and the water heater’s gas controls, beyond setting a gas tank to pilot. If you smell gas, leave the house and call your gas utility or 911 from outside.
• The water meter itself. It belongs to the utility.
• A seized valve. Forcing it can make the leak worse.
• Ceilings that are sagging with water. Keep clear of them. They can come down.

Getting ready before anything happens

A few minutes now makes a real emergency far easier:

• Find the main valve and test it. Close it, check that the water stops, then open it again slowly.
• If the valve is stiff, corroded or leaking, have a plumber replace it with a ball valve.
• Find the individual valves under each sink, behind each toilet and at the washing machine, and check that they turn.
• Keep a meter key or a pair of pliers near the front door if your only working valve is in the meter box.
• Clear plants or clutter away from the valve so it is easy to reach in a hurry.
• Show everyone in the house where the valve is and how to shut off water there.

Knowing how to shut off water also helps when you go away. Turning the main off before a trip means a failed supply line cannot flood the house while nobody is home.

After the water is off

With the water off and the leak stopped, the next step is the repair. A burst pipe, a failed supply line or a leaking valve needs a licensed plumber, and water that has soaked into walls or under flooring may need drying out as well.

One Call Home Pros can arrange the plumbing side. We match you with a vetted, licensed, insured local plumber who finds the break, makes the repair and checks the rest of the line. You pay One Call, and One Call pays the pro; ask what the price covers before work starts. You can read more about plumbing services.

Find your valve today, and tag it. If you are dealing with a leak right now and the water is off, tell One Call what happened and we take it from there.