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How to Shut off the Water Main⚓︎

Summary⚓︎

This will be a quick guide for how to turn off the water main in case of an emergency. There are, of course, other reasons why you may need to turn off the water main such as for repairs or maintenance. This will almost always be done by a plumber, but it's still good practice to know how to turn it off should the need ever arise.

Location⚓︎

The water main is located in the network closet under the stairs.

How-To⚓︎

Warning

Make sure not to open the valve too far as the valve may come out of the pipe. Opening the valve until it turns easily should be more than sufficient.

In order to turn off the water main, do the following:

  • Go into the network closet under the stairs and go all the way to the back left corner of it.
  • There will be a vertical pipe coming from the ground with a round green valve on it. This is the water main.
  • To turn off the main, turn the valve clockwise until it can no longer be turned.
  • At this point, the flow of water from the street into the house will stop. However, there will very likely still be water in the boiler so the water will still flow in the house until the boiler is empty.

In order to turn on the water main, turn the same valve counterclockwise.