Do you know how to turn your water supply off?

Water pouring from a leaking pipe under the sink

You don’t think much about your water supply until water is flooding everywhere from a burst pipe or busted tap. Do yourself a favour, learn how to turn the water off so you can save yourself a frantic call to your favourite plumber in Sydney. It could save your carpet, beautiful timber floors and cabinetry from damage if a pipe bursts.

The background

Sydney Water delivers water to your home from large pipes running under the road or footpath. A smaller pipe will feed from it and run to the main shut off valve for your home. Alongside the valve our friends at Sydney water will have installed a water meter so they can charge you for usage (about $2 per kilolitre).  (see picture below)

diagram of main water pipe to home and Sydney Water main

Courtesy of Sydney Water

Live in a house?

The valve is located near the front of your property. At Pipe Perfection plumbing’s house, (an inner west terrace) it is located inside the front fence near the boundary with our neighbour. For those of you with larger properties, it might be outside the front fence.  Make yourself familiar with its whereabouts so you can turn the water off in an emergency. Even better, draw a quick map, taping it inside the pantry so the whole family can learn the valve’s location.

plumber sydney

Live in an apartment?

There should be an isolation valve that controls your apartment’s water only. It’s usually under the laundry sink but also try under the kitchen sink. Look for a tap that appears to be doing nothing. Draw its location and tape it inside the pantry door.

Test it

Turn off your isolation valve and open up a few taps. They should run dry after a short time. If they don’t, call your local Sydney plumber to fix it.

This knowledge will be very valuable in an emergency. It can save your flooring, time, stress and money, if you there’s a flood and you need to call a plumber for repairs.