How to find your water stop tap before an emergency

Why this matters

A burst flexi-hose under a kitchen sink can dump 1,500 litres of water onto your floor every hour. A burst pipe in a wall is faster. By the time you find the right valve in your underwear at 2am, your floor is a swimming pool.

Everyone should know where their stop tap is. Most people do not. That is fine until the night it matters.

Where to look

Older houses (pre-1980)

The stop tap is almost always at the front of the property, at or near the water meter. It is usually a brass valve about the size of a fist, with a square spindle on top. Sometimes it has a removable handle, sometimes not (if not, you need a meter key to turn it, and the local hardware shop sells them for about $15).

Newer houses (post-1990)

Usually the same spot, but the valve is often a ball valve with a lever handle. Turn the lever 90 degrees and water stops. Much easier than the old square spindle valves.

Some newer builds also have an internal isolation valve, often in the laundry or in a wall cavity near where the supply line enters the house. Worth knowing about as a backup.

Units and apartments

This is where it gets variable. Three possibilities:

• Your unit has its own isolation valve, usually inside in a cupboard, laundry, or wall recess. Check the entry hall, behind the washing machine, or inside the hot water cupboard.
• Your unit has no individual valve, and the only way to stop water to your unit is to shut down the whole building. Ask the building manager or look in the meter cabinet.
• A combination – one valve for hot, another for cold, in separate locations. Common in 1970s and 1980s blocks.

If you live in a unit and you genuinely cannot find a valve, ring the building manager and ask before you have an emergency. They will know.

Test it now, not in an emergency

Stop taps that have not been turned in years often seize up. The first time you try to use yours might be the worst possible moment to discover it does not work.

Once a year:

• Locate the stop tap
• Turn it off (clockwise to close on most valves)
• Run a tap inside the house. If water still comes out after a few seconds, the stop tap is not sealing properly. Time to call a plumber.
• Turn the valve back on and check there are no drips from the valve body itself.

One last tip

Take a photo of your stop tap location and keep it on your phone. Title it something obvious like "Stop tap home". When the emergency happens you will not be thinking clearly. A photo with a thumbnail of where it is and what it looks like is worth its weight in gold.