How to Shut Off Your Water Supply

If you're not a home improvement professional or even a home improvement enthusiast, you might have noticed that many online articles telling you how to fix your plumbing problems will tell you to shut off your water supply first. This is obviously the correct way to go about fixing your plumbing, but what if you can't get past "step one" simply because you don't know how to shut off your water supply? Well, you've come to the right place. After reading this article, you should be equipped to find and shut off your water supply so that you remember it for next time.

Here are the basic steps:

• When in doubt, it's best to simply shut off the entire water supply to your home. This is actually relatively easy, and as long as you warn all of your family members that you'll be without water for a while, it should go relatively smoothly. To shut off your entire water supply, find your water meter - you can find a picture of one here. You should notice two valves at your water meter, one of which (the "supply side") comes to your house, supplying the water. Shut the valve off on this side by twisting the nozzle.
• Shutting off a "local" supply of water might be enough for simple tasks like fixing your toilet. In order to do this, you're going to have to find the individual valve feeding water to the appliance or fixture you're repairing. Locate the valve first - you should notice that it looks like the valves near your water main. If you're fixing a sink or a toilet, you probably won't have to look very far in order to shut off the local water supply. Twist the nozzle to shut the water off and you should be good to go.
• It's important to note quickly that shutting off the local valve in your shower or bath tub will be a little more difficult than shutting off a local valve for a sink or a toilet. You should be able to find a panel near your tub that will give you access to the valve, but when in doubt, you might want to simply shut off the water supply to your house.

That didn't take much, did it? Once you know how to shut off your water supply, you will find that most plumbing repair jobs are much easier.

Photo Credits: -{ Ariful H Bhuiyan }-

Originally posted 2009-10-13 03:12:10.

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