Home & Garden Columns
Quake Tip of the Week
Can You Stem the Water Tide?
A faithful Quake Tip reader recently had an emergency at home which leads to this recommendation: check and see if your washer hot and cold manual shut-offs are working, as well as the hot water shut-off that should be on top of your water heater.
If you have a broken water connection after the next serious quake, if you don’t have what’s called a “gate valve” near the house, you might thank yourself if you had on hand a plumber’s tool for shutting off your water at the meter, usually close to the curb or sidewalk. I’ve seen them in large hardware stores and places like Home Depot. They make it much easier than trying to shut off the water with an adjustable wrench.
Larry Guillot is owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing, and kit supply service. Call him at 558-3299, or visit www.quakeprepare.com.
