When water leaks
Water leaks can cause a lot of damage to your property when they occur. Damage can be caused by a small constant drip-type or trickle leak, or from a major water leak where water is causing a flood.
Catch drips
If your leak is from a drip or a trickle, place a container under the drip to catch the water and minimise the damage. If you are unable to place a container in the location of the drip use towels to mop up the water and replace them as they become soaked.
Turning off water
With a major leak, it is important to know how to shut the water flow off immediately to minimise the damage.
To turn off the water supply to your property you need to locate the water shut off valve (or toby as it is more commonly called). Most properties have one toby but very occasionally there may be two.
Finding your toby
The toby for your property is owned and maintained by Council. It will be located somewhere on the boundary of your property and should be housed in a toby or water meter box with an access cover. Sometimes the toby is buried or completely covered and hard to find.
When you locate your toby, it’s a good idea to draw a rough sketch map showing your house and boundary, the toby and any permanent features on your property. Keep the map with your other household documents for future reference.
If your property has a second toby, it is usually somewhere close to the house or building. It acts as a backup to the first toby and is owned by the property owner, who is also responsible for its upkeep.
Turning off your toby
Within the toby box you will find the valve. There are different types of valves, but they will all have a type of handle that turns. Turning the handle to the right (clockwise) shuts the water off and turning to the left (anti-clockwise) turns the water on. Be careful not to be too forceful especially on the newer types of valves with plastic handles as they only require light effort to shut off.
Call us
Once you have minimised the water causing damage, or turned your toby off, and the water leak has stopped flowing, it’s time to call Climate & Plumbing to discuss what the next step will be to fix the leak and enable your water to be turned back on.
Phone 769 6410 during business hours or for our afterhours emergency phone 027-209 4217.
