How to Turn Off Water

Steps for Shutting off Water

To turn off the water to your house follow these steps:

  1. Locate your water meter.
  2. Locate your customer valve. The customer valve is located after the meter, towards the house. Depending on the infrastructure on your property you may have other private customer valves. Sometimes they are located where pipes enter the house or near the hot water heater.
  3. Turn the customer valve a quarter turn. The customer valve handle should be in the on position, parallel to the pipe. To turn it off, turn the valve one-fourth turn so that it is perpendicular to the pipe.
  4. If you cannot locate or turn off the customer valve, call Padre Dam at 619-448-3111 to have a member of our staff assist you in locating the meter valve.
Image of meter in box

Make sure everyone at the residence knows how to turn off the water. Do not try to operate Padre Dam 's valve (on the street side of the meter). Many properties have a house shut off valve too. They are usually located near the front of the house by the garage or hose bib. If you cannot turn off the house valve, you may need to call a plumber.