Locate your water service
What will I need to turn off the water from the City water main?
- The shut-off valve location
- A shut-off key - available at Manitoba Works Yard (250 W. 70th Ave) or most fire halls
Call 604-326-4800 to have a crew come and find your water service. If you require this service, charges will be explained by a staff member.
From time to time, homeowners will need to locate where their water or sewer pipes route underneath their properties. Whether you need to turn off the water from the street, dig to find a plugged sewer pipe, are planting a tree or building a fence, it is worthwhile and a timesaver to know where the incoming services are.
Engineering keeps records of connection information for most homes. However, this data will only hint where the pipes have been placed on City property. Generally, there are no records of piping plans for pipe-work situated on private property. The City records, if available, will provide some information for the homeowner to correlate where the services may run on private property.
Before you dig – Call BC One Call: 1-800-474-6886 or *6886 with cell phone to ensure gas line and other utility information is on hand.
Water Services
If you are unable to find where the main potable water shut-off valve to your home is, you need to look for a 4” or 100mm diameter iron cap with the initials VWW (Vancouver Water Works) stamped on the top. The location of the shut-off valve is located directly under the cap, will be between three and four feet (1 to 1.2 metres) below street level and near the front property-line. You will need a special tool or shut-off key to turn the valve and shut-off the water. A quarter turn clockwise is all it will take for most valves. Some valves may need to be turned 360 degrees.
Often homeowners will accidentally bury the cap or the cap goes missing and soil and dirt will fill up the stand pipe making it very difficult to find the shut-off valve.
Call 604-3264800 to have a crew come and find your water service. If you require this service, charges of approximately $50 plus taxes will be explained by a staff member.
Do it Yourself
If
you are a bit handy and a little adventurous and water is not immediately
filling your basement, you can locate the shut-off valve on your own. First,
call the City at 604-873-7357 or 604-326-4800 and request the water-line
location for your address; please note we only have records for
Vancouver. With this information, you will need to be familiar with the
four directions: north, south, east and west – in order to follow
the directions provided by City staff.
Utility information is typically provided by identifying the service from one of two property lines. Most often, staff will refer to the location from a certain distance noted as east of west or north of south, etc. For example, a connection location may be explained as one metre west from the east property line and fronting the street.
If the sidewalk is old and has not been replaced, you can find a “W” inscribed at the back of the sidewalk or on the concrete edge closest to your home (as depicted in the photograph). This is a clue left behind by workers from the past. The “W” indicates where the service travels under the ground and that the valve should be in-line with this mark, approximately 0.3m (1 ft.) on City property.
If you can’t find the valve, take a sharp implement like a long screw driver and poke around the area which is in line with the inscribed “W”. Be careful and mindful of other buried utilities and don’t probe too deeply. If you strike a hard buried object, poke around a bit more to determine whether you have found the 100 mm diameter cap or a rock. To locate a city map of your property, go to VanMap.
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