Where is my main water shutoff and how do I use it?

Where is the shutoff in a Philadelphia rowhome?

In most Philadelphia rowhomes, the water service comes in under the front sidewalk and through the front foundation wall of the basement, usually near the front corner or under the front steps. Look for a pipe coming through the wall low down, then the water meter (a round brass or plastic body with a dial), then a valve. There is often a valve on each side of the meter; the one on the house side is the one to use. If you see the sewer house trap in the same corner, you are in the right place.

Older homes may have the meter in a pit under the sidewalk, with the house valve just inside the wall. In a rowhome with a finished basement, the valve is sometimes behind an access panel or inside a closet along the front wall. Trace the pipe from the water heater backward if you are stuck: it always leads to the main.

Where is it in a Bucks County or Main Line home?

Lower Bucks homes from the 1950s to 70s were often built on a slab with no basement, so the shutoff is above ground. Check the utility closet with the water heater and furnace, the garage wall closest to the street, the laundry area, or a kitchen cabinet on the street-facing side. In split-levels, it is usually in the lowest level near the front. Original Levittown homes commonly have the utility area at the front of the house, and the main valve is there with the meter.

Ardmore and Lower Merion stone and twin homes from the early 1900s have basements, and the service usually enters through the front or side foundation wall. The main valve may be an old brass gate valve on galvanized pipe, which matters for the next section. Homes on private wells in outlying parts of Bucks County have no meter; the shutoff is at the pressure tank, on the line leaving the tank.

What kind of valve is it and how do I turn it?

Two styles cover almost every home:

• Ball valve: a straight lever handle. When the handle lines up with the pipe, water is on. Turn it a quarter turn so it sits across the pipe, and it is off. This is the modern standard, and it closes fully and fast.
• Gate valve: a round wheel handle. Turn it clockwise until it stops, which can take several full turns. Gate valves are common on older service lines, and they are the ones that fail.
• After closing the main, open a cold faucet on the lowest floor. Water drains from the pipes, the pressure drops, and any leak slows to a stop. That also proves the valve closed; if water keeps running at full strength, the valve is not holding. When you turn the water back on later, open the main slowly and let faucets run until the sputtering stops.

What if the valve is stuck or does not fully close?

Old gate valves fail two ways. The wheel will not budge because the stem has corroded, or the wheel turns freely but water keeps running because the gate inside has broken off its stem. Do not put a wrench on the wheel and lean on it. A snapped stem or a cracked valve body on the main is the worst possible timing for a new leak, with no way left to stop the water.

If the main will not close, the next shutoff is the curb stop: a valve on the utility's service line under a small metal cap in the sidewalk or lawn. In Philadelphia, PWD operates it; in Bucks County and Lower Merion, it is Aqua Pennsylvania or BCWSA depending on your street. Call the utility to close it and confirm current rules on who may operate it. Then have the house valve replaced with a ball valve, a straightforward repair we do often.

How do I shut off just one fixture?

Most leaks do not need the whole house off. Toilets have a small oval or lever valve on the wall or floor behind them. Sinks have one under each hot and cold supply. Washing machines have two valves on the wall behind the machine, sometimes a single lever that closes both. Water heaters have a valve on the cold inlet on top of the tank. Dishwashers and refrigerators usually tie into the valve under the kitchen sink. Turn these clockwise until snug; do not overtighten, since the small chrome stops are easy to strip.

If a fixture stop does not close, or spins without effect, go to the main. Then put that valve on the list to replace; a stop that does not work is not a shutoff.

What should I do with this today?

Find your main valve now, while nothing is wrong. Tag it with a label so anyone in the house can find it, and turn it off and on once to make sure it moves. Do the same each spring and fall, since a valve that is never used is the one that seizes. If it is a stuck gate valve, a rusty stem, or you simply cannot find a main valve at all, request service and we will locate it, test it, and replace it with a full-port ball valve if it needs it. It is a small job that turns a future flood into a five-second fix.