Where is my water shutoff?

Glad you got it tight. Most likely that is all you need. If you do ever have to repack it, I'd try to shut it off and replace the washer on that valve at the same time. That cover next to it is a sewer cleanout. Has nothing to do with the supply water. The shutoff usually has a steel cover in the yard about the same size as that sewer cleanout or a little larger.

Here is a tip to find it. Walk a straight line from where that meter is in the basement toward the road. Measure in the basement so you find the same distance outside from the corner of the house. Then walk toward the street. Those are usually located not too far from the street otr sidewalk. If you dont know, there is usually several feet past the edge of the road that belongs to the city. If you know where that is, it's generally only a few feet past there. If not, figure about 10 to 15 feet from the road, or if you have sidewalks, very near the sidewalk, or maybe even IN it. They usually say "WATER" on them. *If you find one that says "BEER" invite all of us* :) I'd locate it now. If you ever have a meter break off the pipe (they do that), you will need to shut off the water fast. It's just something everyone should know.

I am surprised that they lend you the tool. When I was working as a handyman and shut off the water in the yard (I had my own shutoff tool), I had the water dept. get rather pissed with me. They said ONLY the water company or a licensed plumber is supposed to do that. Later on when I was working for a plumber, they were happy when I did it, and saved them the work. In 8 years of working for a plumber, I had 3 meters break off, and when that water starts gushing in, I wanted to shut off the water fast. (I made my own tool, but later I bought a commercial one from a plumber that was going out of business). The one bad thing, those shutoffs tend to get filled with dirt and there is no way to shut it off. The water company has to come with a large air compressor and blow out the dirt. One time when the meter broke, that happened. What a f##king mess. All I could do was put a sump pump in the basement with a hose out the window and turn it on. At least it never got more than a few inches deep in the basement becaue it took the water company almost 4 hours to get the equipment and blow out that valve. At one point I tried to put a piece of rubber over the broken pipe and hose clamp it. That was useless with 70 lbs of pressure. I got a free bath though....

By the way, I like your horses in those pictures. I have horses!

Mark

It was the same when I lived and worked in the city. Their street shutoff was where their job ended, EXCEPT the meter itself. If the pipe between the street shutoff started to leak, the homeowner had to pay a plumber to replace it (or start digging themselves). It all depends on where a person lives.

They still have to manually pull the meter. The meter reading device where they can read from the street is a radio controlled device, but all it does is send out the numbers on the meter. Same with water meters that have that.