Tag water shut-off values for emergencies
Tips on preventing home flooding
Tag all the water shut-off values in your home. Make a written record of the locations and keep it handy for emergencies.
As a homeowner you are probably well aware of the location of the water shut-off valves in your home. But others may not.
- If a baby sitter, the kids or a house sitter is left in charge of the house in your absence, a great deal of damage can occur before the water is cut off in an emergency.
- Burst pipes, a leaky water heater, or ruptured washing machine hoses are potential problems that can arise with little warning and devastating results.
- It’s a good idea to locate, test and tag the main shut-off valve to the house as well as the individual controls for plumbing fixtures and plumbing related appliances such as dish washer, water heater, washing machine and refrigerator ice maker.
- Besides tagging the shut-off valves it’s probably a good idea to keep an itemized list of the valves with a description of their locations.
- The list can be photocopied and given to whoever is left in charge any time you are away from home for a length of time.
