I don’t think there’s anything wrong with turning your water off. Those valves usually have loops so they can be locked OFF if you don’t pay. An adjustable wrench should work. The special tool they use is to avoid kneeling and reaching into the cobwebs.
This assumes a main water shut off valve close to the residence. In my area, the mains valve to the house is inside a metal sleeve and the valve is 6' under grade in the sleeve. To turn the mains valve off at the curb, a long handled wrench is needed (curb key). I built one once and IIRC, the size is 1 1/2" square. The City owns the valve and only a licensed water mains guy or a City worker is supposed to operate it. I do know that irrigation crews commonly have and use them.
