When a pipe bursts or a panel sparks, nobody wants to hunt for the valve. Find each shut-off on a calm day, before you need it, and write down where it is. Water utilities ask for the same thing: locate your valves before an emergency (City of Hamilton).
Where is the main water valve?
The main valve shuts off the water to the whole house. Most are where the water line comes into the house (Portland Water Bureau).
A wheel closes when you turn it clockwise until it stops. A lever closes with a quarter turn, when it sits across the pipe (City of Hamilton).
- WheelClockwise until it stops
- Lever, openAlong the pipe
- Lever, closedAcross the pipe
Cannot reach it dry? Call the water company to shut it at the street. In an apartment, the property manager shuts the water (Portland Water Bureau).
How do you shut off a water heater?
Smell gas? Leave now. Call 911 from outside.
An electric water heater: switch off its breaker first. At the panel, it is the double breaker for the water heater. Flip it to OFF with dry hands, on a dry floor. Cannot reach the panel dry? Leave it and call.
A gas water heater: close the gas valve. On the gas pipe going into the tank. Turn the handle so it crosses the pipe. No handle? Turn the dial on the tank to OFF.
Close the cold-water valve, on the pipe above the tank where the cold water goes in (Portland Water Bureau). Turn it clockwise until it stops, or turn the lever across the pipe. Electric and the breaker still on? Skip this.
How do you shut off the power?
Only if the panel is dry, cool and quiet. The main breaker is the large one, usually at the top. If the area is still dry, the power company says you can turn it off there; never stand in water to reach it (PPL Electric).
Hot, wet, buzzing, sparking or smelling: keep everyone back. Call 911. The fire department can cut the power at the meter, and so can the power company (PPL Electric).
What do you do if you smell gas?
Smell gas? Leave now. Call 911 from outside.
Switch nothing on or off. No lights, no phone, no garage door opener. Get well away from the house, then call 911 or the gas company (Liberty Utilities).
Do not turn off the gas meter yourself. The gas company shuts the gas (Liberty Utilities).
Where are the valves for a toilet, sink or washer?
Each has its own, so one leak never needs the whole house off (City of Hamilton).
- Toilet: the valve behind it, low on the wall.
- Sink: the valves under the sink, hot and cold.
- Washer: the two valves behind it, hot and cold.
- Dishwasher: the valve under the kitchen sink.
Turn each clockwise until it stops (Portland Water Bureau).
Sources (5)
- Water shut-off valves, City of Hamilton, Ohio: the main valve, wheel and lever valves, and the valves at each fixture.
- Prepare for winter, Portland Water Bureau: where the main valve usually is, the water heater’s cold-water valve, and apartments.
- Fix a toilet leak, Portland Water Bureau: turning a fixture’s valve clockwise.
- Staying safe around electricity during flooding, PPL Electric: the breaker when the area is dry, and the meter when it is not.
- Natural gas smell emergency, Liberty Utilities: leaving, switching nothing, and leaving the meter to the gas company.