How to Find and Use Your Main Water Shut-Off

Where it usually is

In most Vaughan homes the service line enters the basement through the front foundation. The main shut-off is right there, next to the water meter. Look for:

• A finished basement: often behind a little access hatch in a closet, below the stairs, or in the mechanical room.
• An unfinished basement: on the front wall, usually low, with the meter beside it.
• A townhouse or condo: sometimes in a utility closet or close to the water heater.

There are often two valves, flanking the meter. Closing either one cuts off the water to the house.

Valve styles

Ball valve: a lever handle that swings a quarter turn. Handle along the pipe means open; handle across the pipe means closed.

Gate valve: a round wheel handle that needs many clockwise turns to close. Common in older homes and prone to seizing.

How to close it

1. Turn slowly. Forcing an old gate valve can snap the stem.
2. For a gate valve, turn clockwise until it stops. Do not keep cranking.
3. Open a tap on the lowest floor to check the water has stopped.

If the valve will not close

Gate valves that have not been used in years often seize or close only partly. If yours will not stop the water, the City can close the curb stop near the lot line. In an emergency, call the City of Vaughan's after-hours number. Do not try to operate the curb stop yourself without the proper key.

Afterwards, have the valve replaced with a quarter-turn ball valve. That is a quick short job, and the most useful upgrade in any older house. We do it as part of water line work or on its own.

Exercise it once a year

Shut and reopen the main valve once a year to keep it free. If it drips at the stem when you turn it, tightening the packing nut slightly often stops it. If not, plan to replace it. See also emergency plumbing.