How to Find (and Use) Your Home's Main Water Shut-Off

If a supply line bursts or a water heater lets go, the first thing to do is stop the water. Every homeowner should know where the main shut-off is and how to turn it — before an emergency, not during one.

Where to look

In most Central Texas homes, the main shut-off is in one of these places:

• On an exterior wall near where the water line enters the house, often by the hose bib
• In the garage, on a wall near the water heater
• In a ground box near the street or sidewalk, next to the water meter
• In a utility closet or laundry room in some floor plans

How to turn it off

There are two common valve types. A gate valve has a round wheel handle — turn it clockwise until it stops. A ball valve has a lever handle — turn it a quarter turn so the lever is perpendicular to the pipe.

If your shut-off is at the meter box, you may need a meter key or an adjustable wrench to reach and turn the valve.

Test it once a year

Valves that sit untouched for years can seize up. Once a year, turn the valve off and back on to keep it moving, and open a faucet afterward to confirm the water actually stops. If the valve won't turn or leaks when you operate it, it's time to have it replaced — a shut-off that doesn't work is no shut-off at all.

Know your fixture shut-offs too

Toilets and sinks have their own small shut-off valves on the supply lines behind or beneath them. For a problem at one fixture, these let you stop the water there without shutting down the whole house.