Shut off water at home???

Was in Las Vegas for about 10 days and returned home to a flooded house. Ever since then I turn off the water, turn the breaker off for the water heater. I do not want to come home to that mess again. Only takes seconds to turn valve off.

Been doing that for 20 some years. Great insurance.

Yes I do. Takes 5 seconds to turn the handle on the main feed.

We are also on a well and if we are gone over night or longer, power off to pump and water heater power off.

We learned a lesson on our most recent trip. I have a ball valve that shuts off the water to the house, but the main line for the sprinkler system is connected before the house shut off. California has been bone dry, but while we were gone for two weeks we got two days of abnormally heavy rain. During the rain, the main line to my sprinklers broke and the water just ran....1" line. The neighbors didn't notice right away because of the heavy rain.

Yesterday, I went out and bought a 1" electric water valve that I will install in the sprinkler line. I didn't realize it, but most sprinkler boxes are wired for a master valve. This means that the new valve that I will be installing will keep the main line to the sprinklers closed until the sprinklers come on. When they turn on the valve opens. At least, if I break another line, it will only run when the sprinklers run vs 24/7.

sch911 wrote:
We don't turn the water off. We have a sump pump system with a water powered backup. I do turn off the water heater, and the hot water valve.

We have a basement and a backup water powered sump pump also. The water supply comes in thru the basement wall. I arranged the plumbing so that I have a ball valve to shut off everything but the back up sump pump. The T off to the backup sump pump also has a ball valve in it for shut off if necessary. So when I leave I turn off the whole house minus the back up pump and then also shut off the two water heaters and the ice maker.

Also have a zone on the security system thsat has a sensor in the sump. Sequence goes like this:

Main pump goes south or power goes out

Water rises up and triggers the alarm

Water rises higher and causes the back up to take over

We used to leave the water on up north while gone all winter. Didn't see the need because kids were checking house every week for us. However, during one of the "checks" one of them used a toilet and it kept running. We ended up with a $400 plus water bill that next month!

Yes, I do. I also installed a Water Cop leak detection system on my home several years ago that will shut off the water automatically if a leak is detected.

The system includes a wall panel so the whole house can be turned off manually just by pressing a button. The individual, wireless leak detectors are located where water leaks are most likely to occur: water heaters, toilets, washing machines, ice maker, dishwasher, etc.

It's turned the water off several times since I installed it, and saved us from having expensive water damage repairs. The most recent event was when one of our water heaters started leaking just as we were going to bed one night. The WH is not close to our bedroom, but I heard the faint beeping of the sensor and wondered "what is that???". I eventually figured it out when I tried to turn a faucet on. Aha! The water is off.

Needless to say, I really like that system.

:):)

For just a few days away, we don't shut anything off, but when we leave our cottage for months at a time, we have a short routine that includes turning off the well pump and two water heaters at the breaker panel, along with turning down the heat in cold weather. Including checking that windows and doors are locked, the whole process only takes about 5 minutes.

Yes. Flooded basements are no fun.

I don't do any of those things when I go to work or go out for the day and that's five or six days a week, every week.

Except you come home at night so worst case you are gone 10-12 hours. That's a big difference from being gone for days or weeks. If you catch things early you can minimize damage. If no one's there to know there's an issue and the water runs for an extended time then you exponentially increase your potential for damage.