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PLUMBING TOPICS AGE of Plumbing Materials & Fixtures BLOCKED DRAIN REPAIR METHODS BOILERS, HEATING CHIMNEY INSPECTION DIAGNOSIS REPAIR CLOGGED PIPING & Hot Water Flow DRAIN a WATER HEATER TANK FREEZE-PROOF A BUILDING Key Winterizing Topics How to Winterize a Building Winterize - Heat On Procedure Thermostat Settings Turn Water Off ? Winterize Water Softener & Treatment Equip. Find & Fix Water Pipe Freeze-Up Points Heat tapes, Heat, Insulation prevent Freeze-Up Freeze Protect Drains Winterize- Heat Off Procedure De-Winterized a Building Thawing Frozen Pipes Repairing Burst Leaky Pipes Turning on Heating Restoring Drains Turning on Water Water Supply/Drain Pipe Leak Types Restoring Water Softener & Treatment Equip GAS PIPING HOT WATER HEATERS LEAD WATER PIPES MVOCs & MOLDY MUSTY ODORS ODORS & SMELLS DIAGNOSIS & CURE OIL FIRED WATER HEATERS OIL TANKS PIPING IN BUILDINGS AGE OF PIPING CHECK VALVES CLOGGED DRAINS DRAIN & SEWER PIPING DRAIN NOISES PLASTIC PIPING SEWER LINE REPLACEMENT TRAPS on DRAINS VENT PIPING WATER PRESSURE LOSS WATER SUPPLY PIPING Water pipe clog diagnosis Water pipe clog repair guide PLUMBING FIXTURES FAUCETS & CONTROLS SHOWERS SINKS TUBS TOILETS TOILET ALTERNATIVES TOILET OVERFLOW EMERGENCY RANGE BOILERS RELIEF VALVES - TP Valves SEPTIC SYSTEMS SEWER GAS ODORS SEWER LINE REPLACEMENT SOLAR HOT WATER HEATERS SUMP PUMPS GUIDE TANK TYPES: WATER, OIL, EXPANSION, ALL TANKLESS COILS TOILET OVERFLOW EMERGENCY WATER HEATERS AGE of WATER HEATERS ALTERNATIVE HOT WATER SOURCES ELECTRIC WATER HEATERS GAS FIRED WATER HEATERS HOT WATER IMPROVEMENTS HOT WATER QUANTITY IMPROVEMENT INDIRECT FIRED WATER HEATERS WATER HEATER PROPERTIES WATER, WELLS, WATER TANKS: TESTING GUIDE WATER PRESSURE LOSS DIAGNOSIS GUIDE WATER PRESSURE & FLOW MEASUREMENT WATER PUMPS & TANKS WATER PUMP TYPES & LIFE EXPECTANCY WATER PUMP SHORT CYCLING WATER PUMP & WATER TANK REPAIRS WATER SHUTOFF VALVE LOCATION, USE WATER SOURCE ALTERNATIVES WATER SUPPLY & DRAIN PIPING CLOGGED DRAIN DIAGNOSIS DRAIN NOISE DIAGNOSIS WATER TESTS, CONTAMINANTS, TREATMENT WELLS CISTERNS & SPRINGS Basement Wells Cisterns Drilled Wells - steel casings Driven Point Wells How Much Water is In the Well? How to Test Well Water Quantity How to Get More Water From a Well Hand Dug Wells Springs as Water Supply Well Pits WATER PRESSURE LOSS WATER TANK TYPES WELL CHLORINATION SHOCKING PROCEDURE WELL CLEARANCE DISTANCES WELL LIFE EXPECTANCY WELL PIPING CHECK VALVES WELL PIPING FOOT VALVES WELL PUMP TYPES & LIFE EXPECTANCY WELL PUMP PRIMING GUIDE More Information InspectAPedia Blog - News Updates Air Conditioning & Heat Pumps Bookstore Electrical Environment Exteriors Heating Home Inspection Insulate Ventilate Interiors Mold Inspect/Test Plumbing Water Septic Roofing Structure Accuracy & Privacy Policies Contact Us |
This article explains how and where to turn off the water supply to a building as part of winterizing or freezeproofing the structure. The articles at this website will answer most questions about freeze protection for piping and other building plumbing and heating system components: how to winterize a building to avoid frozen pipes, and how to thaw frozen water supply & drain piping, wells, & water tanks. © Copyright 2010 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website. Readers should also see WATER SHUTOFF VALVE LOCATION, USE and FREEZE-PROOF A BUILDING. Guide to Turning off Water to a Winterized BuildingA building owner who is unfamiliar with the plumbing and heating equipment in their building may be understandably intimidated by the maze of pipes, valves, switches, and controls such as those shown at the top of this page. While there are building winterizing professionals who will be glad to come by to help protect your building from freeze damage and related water leak damage (when the frozen burst pipes and fixtures thaw out), it's pretty easy to understand what's needed. Is the building heat going to be left "on" or "off" - the answer determines the extent of freeze-proofing needed.
The procedures we discuss in this article series address both "heat on" and "heat off " building shut-down procedures that are useful both in freezing climates and in warmer locales. Details on how to find and use water shutoff valves is at WATER SHUTOFF VALVE LOCATION, USE. Guide to Deciding to Turn Off All or Just Some Water Supply Valves
When is it Not OK to turn off water in a winterized building: But if the building is heated by a system that requires water, such as a steam boiler or a hot water (hydronic) heating boiler, turning off the building water supply can risk serious damage or total destruction to the heating boiler or even unsafe conditions. That's because most heating systems that use water rely on the presence of an automatic water feed valve to assure that makeup water is sent into the heating boiler whenever its water level drops below a safe level. What can we do to protect a building from frozen burst pipes and later flooding if heat is provided by a hot water heating system?
See Water Feeder Valves, Hydronic Boiler and Low Water Cutoff Controls for more discussion of heating boiler water control valves. What about leaving water running slowly to avoid frozen pipes. This is a last resort measure which we don't like. Not only are we wasting water, we risk flooding a septic system, or we risk freezing the building drain lines by the slow flow of water. In emergency however, such as loss of heat during a winter storm, this step could be necessary and would make sense. Where & How To Turn Off the Building Water SupplyFor complete details about finding and turning off the main water valve in buildings, readers should see WATER SHUTOFF VALVE LOCATION, USE . Where to Turn Off Water in Buildings with a Private Well and Water Pump - Which Way to Turn the ValveFor this reason, in addition to turning off the main water valve, we recommend turning off electrical power to the well pump too. We don't drain the water tank nor building plumbing unless a total building shut-down is being planned. Thanks to reader Ron Blodgett for suggesting this clarification about just where and how to turn off building water when leaving a building unattended. Where to Turn Off Water in Buildings Served by Municipal Water SupplyJust turn off the water supply to your building at the main water shutoff valve. You can usually find this valve on the water pipe just inside the building where piping enters the structure. Our sketch above shows the main water shutoff valve in a building served by municipal water supply. In some areas such as Arizona, a main water shutoff valve may be located in a below-ground box near the street. In other areas an outdoor water main shutoff valve will be found between the street and the building,marked by a large valve, often embossed "water". Don't mess with the outdoor water shutoff valve unless it's in an emergency such as a burst incoming water pipe inside the building which the leak is before the indoor main water shutoff valve (the piping to the left of the red handled valve in our above photo of an indoor municipal water shutoff valve). Your municipal water company employees will have and use a special T-wrench to turn this outdoor valve in order to open or shut the outdoor water main buried below. For complete details about how to find and turn off the main water control valve in a building, readers should see WATER SHUTOFF VALVE LOCATION, USE . Guide to Turning Off Other Plumbing Fixtures in a Winterized "Heat-On" BuildingBefore moving on to the other Heat-On winterizing Steps (Winterize Water Softener & Treatment Equip. and Find & Fix Water Pipe Freeze-Up Points and Heat tapes, Heat, Insulation prevent Freeze-Up and Freeze Protect Drains) here are a few basic suggestions:
These and similar individual water supply valve turn-offs that you may identify reduce the chances of a flood in an unattended building should an individual fixture or pipe break during the winter. Of course if you are turning the heat off for the winter, a different set of drain-down and other steps are needed, and are discussed beginning at Winterize- Heat Off Procedure. This sketch of a gas-fired water heater and its control valves is provided courtesy of Carson Dunlop. Additional Optional Steps to Turn Off Building Water to Protect from FreezingSome building managers also open each plumbing fixture to remove pressure from the piping system. We don't go beyond this step in winterizing a building unless the building heat is to be left off. If heat is to be turned off and the building completely winterized, see the procedure at: Winterize- Heat Off. ... Technical Reviewers & References
Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website. FREEZE-PROOF A BUILDING
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12/22/2009 - 08/12/2008 - InspectAPedia.com/plumbing/Winterize_Turn_Water_Off.htm - Web page design & content © Copyright 2008 - 2008 Daniel Friedman - all rights reserved