How to deal with leaks
The biggest concern is big leaks that spew out lots of water. They happen rarely, but they happen.
The most important thing is to know where to shut off the water, and to know this before you have an emergency.
Where are your on/off valves?
Per "appliance" valves - Every water "appliance" (faucet, toilet, water line to fridge ice maker, etc) has an on/off valve typically behind toilets and under sinks). These are called right angle stops.
Main valves - Single family homes, duplexes, four-plexes, etc, have a main water on/off valve that is generally near the house and on the outside of the house. It may be located inside a closet of some sort that in turn is open to the outside. Many sprinkler systems have main on/off valves for each yard.
HOA's - If you live in a condominium or townhouse complex, the water valves could be anywhere. The HOA should have a map showing the locations of what valves turn the water off to what units. Generally water service within the complex is the responsibility of the HOA, rather than specific residences and/or the city.
City owned valves - For every property, there is a city owned and operated water valve. For single family homes it's under a concrete lid in the lawn or sidewalk. For HOA's, it could be anywhere but since it shuts off water the entire complex, it's not the one to use. You should never try to use the city owned valve to turn water off as if it's seized and it breaks, the city may charge you to replace it. At the bottom of this email are numbers for water services for all the cities in Santa Clara County. If you need them to come, call them. They tend to respond very quickly to emergencies.
After years of being open, valves can seize. When you have an emergency there is a tendency to force seized valves. When you have a fountain in your home it's hard to resist this urge, but you're better off moving to the next valve upstream. It will probably get the water off quicker.
For the record, there is a product named Liquid Wrench which loosens seized plumbing connections, including seized valves, and it really works. It's amazing stuff. Just follow the instructions on the can.
If you have an emergency leak in your home, try valves in the following order:
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Right angle stop to specific device.
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Main valve for house.
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Call the city.
If you have an emergency leak in your yard, try valves in the following order:
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Main valve for sprinkler system.
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Main valve for house.
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Call the city.
Non emergency leaks
Slower, non emergency leaks are much less dramatic, but can waste enormous amounts of water over short periods of time.
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Toilet running - The inside of the toilet needs to be adjusted or rebuilt. If you absolutely/positively want it fixed the first time, replace the entire guts of the toilet, and the supply line (the flex line from the valve to the toilet).
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Leaking faucets - A dripping faucet can drip over 200 gallons a month. Faucets have cartridges (also called valve stems) that can be replaced. OSH carries a great selection of valve stems. If OSH doesn't carry your valve stem, Barron Park Plumbing Supply in Mountain View probably does. If your faucet is older, and a replacement valve stem is not available, you have no choice but to replace the entire faucet and both supply lines.
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Leaking shower valve systems - We have seen a fair number of shower valve leaks where valve stems were no longer available. Unfortunately replacing the shower valve mechanism requires opening a wall. Since it is easier to open and patch sheetrock (compared to tile) you want to open the wall behind the shower to eliminate the need to remove and replace tiles. If you have to open the tile wall in the shower it's not the end of the world. It is possible to replace a shower valve by removing and replacing only 16 tiles. However, most people don't have matching tiles lying around in storage so this creates an astetics issue. When it is necessary to patch with different color tiles, many of our customers use sharply contrasting tiles so it looks intentional and less like a patch job. This sounds like major surgery but really isn't. We've completed this task several times in only 6 to 8 hours from start to finish.
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Leaking shower pan - If your shower pan is leaking, it is major surgery and is beyond the scope of this article. Symptoms are the floor is soft and gives when you put weight on it, and/or you notice water damage on the walls in the room below the shower.
Calling the City or County to shut off your water
If you need the City or County to come shut off your water, call the appropriate number below.
Palo Alto - 650-329-2579
Mountain View - 650-903-6329
Los Altos Hills - 650-948-1217 (Purissima Hills Water District) OR 650-917-0152 (California Water Service Company)
Los Altos - 650-947-2780
Sunnyvale - 408-730-7510
Milpitas - 408-586-2600
Santa Clara - 408-615-2000
San Jose - 408-279-7900
Cupertino - 408-279-7900 (San Jose Water Co) OR 408-367-8200 (California Water Services Company)
Campbell - 408-866-2150
Saratoga - 408-868-1239
Monte Sereno - 408-279-7900
Los Gatos - 408-279-7900
Morgan Hill - 408-776-7333
Gilroy - 408-846-0400
Unincorporated Santa Clara County - 408-299-5700
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