Water Stop Valve Next to House - Needed?

[mm]

I have a valve just inside my basement. There is a meter under the sidewalk that parallels the street, with an iron lid, but apparently we were going to have to pay for the meter reader to read all the meters, and agreed 25 years ago just to split the bill evenly for all

109 houses, and they only read the meter that supplies the whole group of houses. So I've never seen what is inside. Probably 2 meters and 2 valves for 2 townhouses, although that might make it pretty crowded.

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[mm]

I wish I'd know that 10 years ago. But at least I know it for the next time. Thanks.

That's not what you got the first time, right? If they had two bins of couplers, I didn't realize there was any difference, but I only remember there being one bin.

Plug? Why a plug? You mean where the valve stem would go...?

That sounds good.

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[George]

Since you have already dug out the valve, why not:

1. Replace the valve with a new one.
2. Stack c> Now that makes sense; especially if you want to diagnose if a water leak

[O.B.]

I went to the local plumbing supply store today. They had what you mentioned for $7 (long one) and $4 (short one). The long one was too close and it was recommended that I get 2 short ones and splice in a piece of 3/4" pipe. He said that it would only work as long as the pipe remained buried.

The plumber also said that soldering a coupler would the best long-term fix. So I bought a 12" coupler for $5. I'll cut it to fit and go from there. As long as I stay under the $90 house-call fee, I'll feel comfortable going this route.