If you have an issue with your water, you are going to need to know where your stop valve is. If you don’t turn it off, you could have water spraying and flooding your home by the time a plumber gets there. But, there are a lot of people who have no idea where their stop valve is, or even how to find it. Don’t worry though, because in this article, we are going to discuss how to do this, so that if you do have a burst pipe, you will be able to shut your water off.
Where Is It?
Usually, you will find your stop valve under your kitchen sink, or if you have a downstairs toilet, it could be in there. It is a piece of metal that should have some sort of handle on it to turn. If you can see this under your sink, then you have found your stop valve. If you haven’t managed to locate it yet, you can always check with your neighbours. It is usually the case that if you have similar kinds of houses, your stop valves are going to be in the same place.
Your stop valve is unlikely to be upstairs, so don’t start looking in your upstairs bathroom. You might find though that it is fitted next to the meter in your home if you have one. This is only going to be the case if this meter is fitted inside.
How Do I Use It?
When you get to turning the tap off, you should turn it clockwise to shut the water off. If you want to turn the water back on, then this is going to be anticlockwise. You do need to be slightly careful here though because you don’t want to make it too tight so that you can’t turn it the other way.
You should really be turning this three or four times a year, just to check that it is working properly. If not, you are going to need to get this checked by a professional every now and then just so that you know everything is in working order.
When Would I Need It?
You are going to need to know where this is for a number of reasons. You might want to complete some renovations on your home, and for this you might need to turn the water off for a little while. Or, the most common reason is if you have a burst pipe, you need to shut the water off so that it doesn’t ruin your home, and so it doesn’t massively increase your next bill. Calling an emergency plumber Glasgow residents trust is going to be important to get the pipe fixed as soon as possible.
So, now you should know how to find your stop valve in case of emergency! We hope that you have found this article helpful, and if you ever need a reminder of how to find your stop valve, come back to this page!
