Turn off water emergency!

maddy · #21 02/04/14, 06:46 AM

A button at the curb! What has homesteading come to?

simi-steading · #22 02/04/14, 07:41 AM

I think what people are calling a "button" is a round black plastic piece (probably an antenna) that attaches to the top of the meter box. With newer meters, it sends a wireless signal so they can read the meter as they drive by...

TheMartianChick · #23 02/04/14, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TnAndy

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

Thank you for this explanation! I had no idea that things were that different in the south. We have a setup exactly as you described: Water meter in the basement and a curbside pipe with a lid that the water department accesses with a long tool.

CurtisWilliams · #24 02/04/14, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Awnry Abe

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.

A couple of years ago I had a water line that feeds an outside sillcock burst. I am guessing that it ran for about two days before I discovered it. My water usage for that month was 17,000 gallons as compared to 2,000 - 3,000 gallons that normally gets used. My water bill went up about $40.00 that month. How much does your water cost? I thought that my water bill of $45/ monthly for 3000 gallons is expensive. I can't imagine spending what you described.

rambler · #25 02/04/14, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasota

Tango, glad you got it shut off!

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!

Thanks for sharing that, its the stories that make this place great.

I just had a new deep well installed, and a hydrant over bT the relatively new machine shed as long as they were there.

They said we can run everything on the same hose underground, or.....

And I said before they could finish, or you can run 2 hose and backtrack to the hydrant with a second valve and I'll have a good setup........ Which we might as well do and do it right. So whomever owns this place next will have easier repairs.....

Bury the main shutoff? That's a hoot.

Paul

Tango · #26 02/04/14, 04:05 PM

woohoo

tested and holding.... now to clean up a day's worth of mud in the house and off to the laundromat tomorrow with a double load of double dirt. i'm their dirtist customer

thanks ya'll this was a good lesson. now i know how to fix a burst pipe not that i ever want another one but plumbing isn't so hard anymore.