How to turn off the water in your home
By Tom Drake | 24th June 2024 | 4 min read
Whether you’re replacing a tap or there’s a leak in your water system, it’s important to know how you can turn off the water in your home. In this guide we'll show you how you can turn off your water supply.
How do you turn off the water in your home?
If you need to turn off the water in your home, you’ll need to turn the stopcock valve clockwise. This valve controls the mains water supply into your home, so switching it off will stop water flowing into your plumbing system.
Always turn your stopcock slowly to prevent any damage. If your stopcock is stuck, don’t attempt to force it open.
Once you’ve turned off your stopcock, water from your mains supply won't flow into your plumbing system, but water will remain in your internal pipework. If you want to work on a fixture such as a tap, you’ll need to turn it on to drain any remaining water.
What does a stopcock look like?
Your stopcock will be between two lengths of pipe and will look like a tap without a spout. Stopcocks feature a valve or handle that when turned, will stop the flow of water.
Where is my stopcock?
The location of a stopcock will vary across different homes. Here are a few places to check:
- Under the kitchen sink
- Under the stairs
- Garage
- Utility room
- Airing cupboard
- Under the floorboards near the front door
- Downstairs toilet
What to do if you can’t find your stopcock
- Try asking neighbours who live in a similar property where their stopcock is.
- Check to see if your stopcock appears on the plans for your home.
- If your kitchen has been renovated by a previous owner, your stopcock may have been boxed in behind a cabinet.
- If you live in a flat, your stopcock may be in a communal area alongside the stopcocks for the rest of the building.
If you’ve looked everywhere and still can’t find your stopcock, you may need to call a plumber.
Isolation valves
If you’re trying to turn off your water supply to fix a specific leak, you may be able to use an isolation valve rather than turning off the water supply to your whole property.
Isolation valves are installed so you can turn off the water supply to certain parts of your plumbing system. For example, if you have an isolation valve before your kitchen tap, you can turn off the water supply to the tap and replace it without turning off the supply to the rest of your home.
Can I turn off the external water supply to my home?
Your internal stopcock can be used to turn off the water in your home, but there will also be an external stopcock outside your property. The external stop tap belongs to your water supplier, and depending on who your supplier is, they may need to give you permission to use it.
Some external stop taps will also be shared by multiple properties.
If there’s an issue that you believe requires the external stop tap to be shut off, you should contact your water supplier.
