Turn off water emergency!

Tango · #1 02/03/14, 05:45 PM

Where can i find the shut off valve for the water to the outside. i know where the house water shut off is but thought the outside one was at the street. and it isn't . my outside fauv=cet is a founatin right now help!

simi-steading · #2 02/03/14, 05:50 PM

Shut off the main water then look for the faucet shutoff .. if it has one... None of us would know where they may have hidden it.. if there is one... I don't have one on mine..

TheMartianChick · #3 02/03/14, 05:52 PM

Look on the inside wall of the basement near the location of the outside faucet. You should see a pipe that feeds water to the outside faucet. If there is no valve there, then try to trace/follow the pipe back to the shut off valve.

Tango · #4 02/03/14, 05:54 PM

it goes form the street to this faucet outside. where is the mainusually? i thought it was at the street?

Tango · #5 02/03/14, 05:54 PM

where is the main?

simi-steading · #6 02/03/14, 05:58 PM

Should be along the curb or edge of the road..

Rectifier · #7 02/03/14, 05:59 PM

Inside of basement on the street side. Look for the big cold water pipe and follow to the entry point. Possibly a bulky regulator near it. Good luck

Tango · #8 02/03/14, 06:03 PM

found it! such a tiny little thing at the street. so much gratitude for your prompt help.

Harry Chickpea · #9 02/03/14, 06:11 PM

YAY!!! Large water bills are rarely forgiven. (I might forgive myself, but I get water from a creek and don't charge myself enough.)

JoePa · #10 02/03/14, 06:40 PM

Tango - you must have a unusual setup - when I lived in the city there was a shutoff at the curb that shuts off the water to the house - usually the utitility has a long rod that they use to shut off the water - inside the house where the water comes in from the street there is also a shutoff valve that can be used to shut off the water to the whole house - then sometimes there is also a shutoff on the pipe feeding a outside faucet - now where I live I have a well and have a shutoff where the pipe from the well enters the house - I also have shutoffs at each outside faucet - these I put in myself -

TheMartianChick · #11 02/03/14, 06:49 PM

I live in a city and I'm used to the type of setup that JoePa described. I just learned something new! There is a button at the curb? I cannot even imagine that. Is it protected? Does it require special tools? I could picture kids coming along and shutting off people's water as a joke.

CurtisWilliams · #12 02/03/14, 06:54 PM

When I replaced every supply line in my old house, I plumbed in a redundancy of shut off valves. I can shut it off at the meter if I pull it up from the pit. I have a valve at the foundation entrance. I have valves on each feed at the first four way split. I have a valve at the entrance to the water heater, and at the exit. I have a valve at every branch and connection. I have the ability to shut off the water supply to any single fixture while leaving water pressure to every other fixture. And I have a redundant feed to the toilet. If there is water pressure after the main shut off, I can shut off the rest of the house and I can still flush.

arabian knight · #13 02/03/14, 06:55 PM

Sounds like you are on city water there should be Two Shutoffs on the Water meter itself. One on each side of the meter so the meter can be replaced easy. At least that is code in the State of WI.

Awnry Abe · #14 02/03/14, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

YAY!!! Large water bills are rarely forgiven. (I might forgive myself, but I get water from a creek and don't charge myself enough.)

DW found a fountain on the line going to our livestock barn. $541 this month on a line that rarely hits the $30 minimum. I don't know how she noticed it, but it would have been twice that by the time they read the meter and let us know.

TnAndy · #15 02/03/14, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMartianChick

I live in a city and I'm used to the type of setup that JoePa described. I just learned something new! There is a button at the curb? I cannot even imagine that. Is it protected? Does it require special tools? I could picture kids coming along and shutting off people's water as a joke.

Some regional info:

Up NORTH, due to frost line being so deep, you guys normally have a small access port with a cover out at the street the utility guy can stick a LONG rod down in with a special end on it to turn off your water....then the meter itself is often in the basement. All for freezer protection.

Down SOUTH, where the frost line is NOT deep, our meters are at the street side, or just inside the yard line, with a shallow box in the ground, and a cover exposed to the yard, size is something like 10" x 16" or so, looks like this:

(Typical meter box....black part is below grade, green cover flush with the ground)

Turn off water emergency! - Homesteading Questions

Turn off water emergency! - Homesteading Questions

The meter sits in this box, water lines run thru those holes on either side, about a foot below grade, and there is a shutoff valve at the meter. (see below)

Turn off water emergency! - Homesteading Questions

Yes, I guess kids could come along and shut off your water...but the valves are usually a pain in the backside to even turn...they make a special T handled wrench with a "U" on the end to fit over the valve.

Turn off water emergency! - Homesteading Questions

**Roadking** · #16 02/03/14, 08:44 PM

What is this "meter" you all mention? We have a well and a spring with a creek backup.

Glad you found the problem. Now to fix it. Shark bites if it's inside. If outside...not going to be pretty. Sorry for that.

Matt

Kasota · #17 02/03/14, 08:52 PM

Tango, glad you got it shut off!

About two months after I bought my farm I woke up to find a HUGE spray of water coming from the pipe by one of the outdoor frost-free hydrants. It was spraying right up and over the top of a two story old dairy barn and running into the calf pen. Must have broken in the night and it sure made a mess.

I could not find the shut off for the life of me. Finally in desperation I called the person I bought the place from and he said, "Oh, I was afraid people would steal my water so I buried it. It's about 3 feet underground in the calf pen. If you pace off 4 feet from the edge of the east corner of the barn and start digging you will find it." I kid you not. Yes, the guy I bought the place from was more than a little strange.

Out I went and paced it off and started digging. Through muck and mud and a whole lot of manure. Finally I could feel where it was with the shovel but I had to lay down on the ground in the muddy manure and half hang myself into the hole to reach down and turn an old ball valve.

I was soaked and covered in the most disgusting concoction imaginable. Manure everywhere. In my hair, all over my face. All over my clothes. At that point the phone rang. I walked over to the porch where I had left it when I knew I would be digging in the muck. It was my then husband coming home from his overnight shift. "Hi! I hope you don't mind if I bring some of the guys home with me for a hearty country breakfast!" He sounded so cheery. "Today is probably not the best day for that." "Oh." Silence. "We're almost there....."

I inhaled and said, "You're cooking." They pulled in the drive about a minute later.

It's a good thing I have a sense of humor. LOL!

RebelDigger · #18 02/03/14, 08:55 PM

If you have the curbside meter it is well worth investing in the special tool to turn it off and one. Dh got one when we started renovating our last house and it has been invaluable both there and here with the reno on our present house.

Alice Kramden · #19 02/03/14, 08:55 PM

Mine is like TnAndy shows, only its made of cast concrete. I can open it up and reach down with a pair of channel locks and cut it off, if I don't have time to run to the neighbors and get their long tool.

Been there, done that. Leak in the ground, shut it off, shut it off. Dial spinning like the second hand on a clock, enormous water bill, all that.

Curtis Williams has the right idea. If I could have my way about it, that is how all my plumbing would be set up.

Hope very much you don't have a big bill or repair job!

Tango · #20 02/04/14, 04:48 AM

Thanks ya'll. You are all very helpful and kind. Kasota, I cracked up at your story. I have a similar one doing repairs just after a hurricane at my pigpen; wind was still kicking up and the temporary tarp flapping all kinds of mud and muddy doo doo

surely one of the most disgusting things I've ever done but no hearty country breakfast to prepare afterward. Thanks for the story

The meter box is at the curb and looks like TNAndy's pic. The shut off valve was very hard to turn and so small and hard to discern that I doubted what it was. The third time I ran out there after reading simi-steading's post, I took a pair of fence pliers and a flashlight and turned it and the water stopped. Yeah, the meter took a turn or two. I could have cried in relief when the the water gushing sound stopped... just when I was catching up with expenses. Gonna try to fix it myself this morning.

This is the first time I've been on city water in over a decade and it feeds from the curb to this "freeze-proof" hydrant. This was done by the first plumber I hired. My own plumber who did my other house too, did the rest and he showed me where the house shut off valve is. He called me at 8 last night, bless his heart and gave me instructions when I told him I was gonna try to fix it myself.