Water supply.
If you're not a home improvement professional or even a home improvement enthusiast, you might have noticed that many online articles telling you how to fix your plumbing problems will tell you to shut off your water supply first. This is obviously the correct way to go about fixing your plumbing, but what if you can't get past "step one" simply because you don't know how to shut off your water supply? Well, you've come to the right place. After reading this article, you should be equipped to find and shut off your water supply so that you remember it for next time.
Here are the basic steps:
- When in doubt, it's best to simply shut off the entire water supply to your home. This is actually relatively easy, and as long as you warn all of your family members that you'll be without water for a while, it should go relatively smoothly. To shut off your entire water supply, find your water meter - you can find a picture of one here. You should notice two valves at your water meter, one of which (the "supply side") comes to your house, supplying the water. Shut the valve off on this side by twisting the nozzle.
- Shutting off a "local" supply of water might be enough for simple tasks like fixing your toilet. In order to do this, you're going to have to find the individual valve feeding water to the appliance or fixture you're repairing. Locate the valve first - you should notice that it looks like the valves near your water main. If you're fixing a sink or a toilet, you probably won't have to look very far in order to shut off the local water supply. Twist the nozzle to shut the water off and you should be good to go.
- It's important to note quickly that shutting off the local valve in your shower or bath tub will be a little more difficult than shutting off a local valve for a sink or a toilet. You should be able to find a panel near your tub that will give you access to the valve, but when in doubt, you might want to simply shut off the water supply to your house.
That didn't take much, did it? Once you know how to shut off your water supply, you will find that most plumbing repair jobs are much easier.
Photo Credits: -{ Ariful H Bhuiyan }-
Originally posted 2009-10-13 03:12:10.
This post involves:
... and focuses on:
Posted by Fix Handyman on May 24, 2010 in
home repair, water
Water damage.
Let's face it - with all of the economic and financial issues troubling us these days, the last thing most people need is another expense that will add more frown wrinkles to your face. So when you realize that you're paying way too much for your water usage, are you prepared to actually go ahead and fix it, or do you simply sigh and try to find the extra money for this month?
Sigh no more. Let's take a look at some ways you can fix those high water costs and bring them back down where they belong.
First, let's start with a simple trick. Your toilet fills with water during every flush, including in the toilet tank. But once your water gets up to a certain level, it stops. If you want to displace some of this water volume, fill up a water bottle and place it in the toilet tank. Since this displaces water, you'll start saving water after each and every flush. Just make sure that you know how a toilet works, or else you might end up doing more harm than you originally intended. (By the way, if you have a toilet flushing more than 1.6 gallons per flush, it's time for a new toilet).
Next, remember that a lot of the water you use in your house goes through your washing machine. You may think that you drink a lot of water, but it's nothing compared to the amount of water you might be using for clothes. You can cut down on this water by simply doing less loads of laundry. Don't be wasteful with this water, so only wash clothes that actually need to be washed - make sure that you wear some clean clothes more than once and that you don't end up washing too many clean clothes. This will cut down on the amount of loads of laundry you have to perform every week.
Also, be sure to monitor the water that you waste. If you keep a bucket of "greywater" around, you can dump the water you didn't drink from a glass in there and use it to water plants.
There's plenty more to learn about fixing your problem with high water costs. The most important thing is to look at your individual situation, find out where much of your water usage comes from, and work to optimize your own water expenses.
Photo Credits: thirteenthbat
Originally posted 2009-10-21 03:03:42.
This post involves:
... and focuses on:
Posted by Fix Handyman on May 19, 2010 in
Handyman, How to Fix, appliances, toilet, water
Stumble
Reddit
Digg
Del.icio.us
