If you've got water where it shouldn't be — under the sink, dripping through a ceiling, spraying from a burst pipe — the first thing to do is stop the flow. Every minute counts. This guide walks you through finding your stopcock, turning it off cleanly, and what to do next. It takes about a minute once you know where to look, so it's worth doing a dry run today rather than hunting in a panic later.
The quick answer — where the stopcock usually is
In most Hull homes, the internal stopcock (sometimes called a stop tap or stop valve) is under the kitchen sink. It's a brass or chrome valve on the incoming cold pipe — usually the pipe furthest to the back, entering through the floor or the wall. Turn it clockwise to shut the water off. If you can't see it under the sink, common alternatives are the under-stairs cupboard, a downstairs cloakroom, the garage, or a utility room. Older terraces sometimes have it in the cellar or hidden behind a kickboard.
There's also an external stopcock out at the boundary — usually a small metal or plastic lid on the pavement or in the front garden marked "W" or "Water". That one needs a stopcock key to turn and it's really for the water company. For 99% of household emergencies, the one indoors is the one you want.
Step-by-step: shutting off your water
Follow these five steps in order. If you get stuck on any one of them, skip down to the troubleshooting section below.
- Find the stopcock. Start under the kitchen sink. Clear out any bottles or cleaning products blocking the pipes. You're looking for a valve — either a red or blue handle, a small metal wheel, or a lever — on the cold mains pipe (the pipe coming up from the floor into the cold tap).
- Turn it clockwise until it stops. Righty-tighty. Use a firm, steady turn — don't wrench it. Most stopcocks need three to five full turns to fully close. If it's a quarter-turn lever valve, a 90-degree turn is enough.
- Open a cold tap downstairs to drain the pressure. Turn on the kitchen cold tap. Water will run for a few seconds, then splutter, then stop. That confirms the stopcock has closed and the mains are isolated.
- Check the leak has slowed or stopped. Go back to where the water was coming from. If it's a mains-fed leak, it should slow to a trickle within a minute (the pipes above the stopcock still hold some water). If it's coming from a hot pipe or a tank-fed pipe, see the next section.
- Contain what's already escaped. Towels, buckets, a mop. Get photos before you clean up if you plan to claim on insurance. Then call a plumber.
Job done. Total time, once you've done it once: under a minute.
What if my stopcock won't turn?
This is the most common problem we get called out to in Hull — stopcocks that haven't been touched in twenty years and have seized solid. A few things to try, in order:
- Two hands, firm pressure, no jerking. A slow, steady clockwise turn is safer than a sudden yank. Sudden force can snap the spindle.
- Try easing it the other way first. A tiny anti-clockwise nudge sometimes breaks the seal, then you can go clockwise.
- Don't use mole grips or a wrench. If it won't turn by hand, tools usually just shear the head off, and now you've got a leak and a broken stopcock.
- Use the external stopcock instead. Lift the lid at the boundary, use a stopcock key (£8 from any DIY shop — worth keeping one), and turn clockwise. If you haven't got a key, a long screwdriver can sometimes work in a pinch.
- Call your water company as a last resort. They can shut supply at the street. Reserve this for genuine emergencies.
A seized stopcock isn't dangerous in itself — but it means you can't stop water in an emergency, so it's worth replacing. See our pipework and stopcock replacement page for what that job usually involves.
Turn off the water heater / cold water storage tank
Shutting the main stopcock stops the mains coming into the house, but your home may still have stored water that can keep a leak going. Here's the water-only side of it:
- Cold water storage tank (loft tank). Older Hull homes often have a large tank in the loft feeding the bathroom cold taps and the hot cylinder. That tank can hold 50 gallons or more, and it'll keep draining through a leak even after the mains are off. Find the gate valve on the pipe leaving the tank and turn it clockwise to isolate it. If there's no valve, the tank will drain down naturally once you open the taps it feeds.
- Hot water cylinder. If the leak is on a hot pipe, isolate the cylinder as well. There's usually a gate valve on the cold feed at the base of the cylinder — turn it clockwise. Then open a hot tap to release pressure.
- Electric immersion / unvented cylinder. Switch it off at the wall so it isn't trying to heat an empty tank.
We only work on the water side of things — plumbing, pipework, tanks, cylinders and stopcocks. For anything gas-related you'll need a Gas Safe engineer.
Where each type of home usually hides it
- Victorian / Edwardian terrace (much of west and east Hull): Under the kitchen sink, or in the cellar near the front wall where the mains enters.
- 1930s semi: Kitchen sink cupboard, sometimes in the pantry or larder if there's one.
- Post-war council house: Kitchen sink, or in an airing cupboard on the ground floor.
- 1970s/80s estate house: Under the kitchen sink or in the garage where the mains enters.
- New-build: Often in a utility room, downstairs WC, or a small hatch near the front door. Should be labelled.
- Flat: Under the kitchen sink, or in a communal cupboard on your floor. There may also be an isolation valve on your incoming pipe — check with the building manager.
If you honestly can't find yours, follow the incoming cold pipe from your kitchen cold tap backwards. It has to lead somewhere.
After the water is off — what next
Once the flow has stopped and you've contained the mess, here's what to do next:
- Get photos and video of the source and any damage. Insurers will ask.
- Move soft furnishings and electricals out of any wet area.
- Call a plumber. The sooner the leak is fixed, the sooner you can get water back on. Our leaks and burst pipes page has typical response times and guide prices (parts extra).
- Think about drying. Wet plaster, floors and skirtings need drying properly to stop damp and mould. See our drying after a leak guide — we hire out dehumidifiers and air movers by the day.
If you're mid-emergency and reading this on your phone, ring us on the number at the top of the site. Water-side only, Hull-based, no call-out surcharges dressed up as "emergency" rates.
Common questions
Answers to the questions we get asked most about shutting water off. If yours isn't here, give us a ring.