If you need to control the water flow into your home, you need to be able to locate your stop tap. A stop tap can be found outside of the home, but there’s often an internal stop tap that will allow you to control your home or building’s water supply.
An internal stop tap is easy to find, and the tap is often found where the pipe enters your home. The age of your home as well as the style of your home will impact the exact location of the stop tap.
While you might not use an internal stop tap often, it’s vital to know where it’s located in your home. A regular check and test of your tap is recommended to ensure that if you need to control your home’s water, you can.
If your stop tap is broken, a plumber can help you fix the problem.
When testing the valve, it’s recommended that you open the tap fully and then turn the knob a quarter of a turn to help prevent the stop tap from seizing up.
External stop taps are used when you need to turn off the water in your home from the outside. For example, if your basement is flooding because of a broken pipe, you may need to turn off the water flow into the home via the stop tap.
If you live on an older property, there’s a chance that you share a stop tap with your neighbors. This is seen with terraced properties which often have the same water supply in a shared manner.
This means everyone’s water will be turned off, so make sure you notify your neighbors before turning off a shared stop tap. If you ahve any further questions, don’t hesitate to contact us today.