Turning off your home’s main water supply

Whether for renovation, repairs or plumbing emergencies, at some point during homeownership, you will likely need to shut off your home’s main water supply.

Your home’s main water value will either be located inside the house, on an exterior wall or buried near the street outside.

For inside mains, check utility areas — like the garage, basement or laundry room — along exterior walls facing the street. Start by looking around the water heater.

In warmer climates, the shutoff valve can be outside the home on an exterior wall. Check for it near your outdoor faucet.

“If you can’t find the valve in or around the house, it’s time to hit the street,” says BobVila.com. “There’s usually a water supply shutoff valve next to your water meter outside where the city can easily turn on or off your water. It will likely be below an access panel buried in the ground, near the street. The access panel may require a special tool called a meter key (sold at most hardware stores) to remove the cover. There may be two valves, one for the homeowner (on the side of the water meter closest to the house) and one for the city (on the side of the water meter closest to the street). Or there may just be one valve, for the city’s use. It may not be permitted for homeowners to use this valve, so contact your water utility company to check.”

The main shutoff value will either be a gate valve, which resembles a circular spigot, or a ball valve, which has a level-style handle. For a gate value, twist the know clockwise until you can’t turn it any longer. For a ball valve, turn the lever clockwise 90 degrees.

After the water has been shut off, you will need to relieve the pressure in the pipes by draining the water that’s already in them. Open both hot and cold taps and run them until they are completely empty.

When repairs or renovations are finished, turn the water back on by twisting the valve counter-clockwise. Turn on a faucet to make sure it’s working like normal.