Understanding Your Home's Water System

Within Kirkland's water district, the City of Kirkland operates and maintains the public water infrastructure. This includes the water mains and water meters. The customer owns the private water service line from the house/building side of the water meter back to the house/building. 

The pipes and plumbing that convey water within private property, including but not limited to the hot water heater, shutoff valve, PRV, backflow assemblies, irrigation system, irrigation box, faucets, and drains, are the responsibility of the property owner.

The city does not have a record of where a building's private shutoff valve is located.

If you need to submit a backflow test report, or have questions about the Backflow Program, please visit our Backflow Prevention web page.

  

Know where your water meter is located. In general, the meter box is located along the frontage of your property in a black plastic box.

Reading your meter is much like reading the odometer in your car. Most meters in the City have six digits and measure usage in cubic feet. For every 100 cubic feet of water used, the register will show that one unit of water has passed through the meter. For instance, if your meter shows a read of 0542/35, it means that 542 units and 35 cubic feet of water have been used since that meter was installed. When an additional 65 cubic feet of water is used, the register would read 0543/00 (one unit of water is equivalent to approximately 748 gallons).

If you suspect a leak, check to see if any of the dials (usually a red or silver triangle) is spinning when all water sources in the house are turned off. For a more detailed explanation, please see Why was my water bill high?

It is also important to keep your meter box clear of debris, fences, and shrubbery so that it is accessible to Water Division personnel. A good rule of thumb is to keep at least three to five feet clear on all sides.

If it becomes necessary for you to shut the water off to your house or building for emergency reasons, simply use a crescent wrench and turn the shut off valve (also known as an angle stop) in a clockwise direction until the two eyelets line up. If the angle stop in your meter box does not have eyelets, there should be an arrow stamped into the top of the valve. Turn the angle stop in the same manner until the arrow is pointing away from the meter.

As with your water meter box, fire hydrants in front of your property need to be kept clear of debris, shrubs and other obstructions. This is critical for maintenance as well as emergency access for the Fire Department.

It’s important that you know where your water shutoff valve is and how to use it. The City does not have a record of where your water shutoff valve is located. 

You may need to use this in event of an emergency such as flooding or an earthquake, when you’re having plumbing work done, or when the building will be unoccupied for a time.

Shutoff valves are commonly located in basements, garages, laundry rooms, and crawl spaces. They may be a ball valve (straight handle), gate valve (wheel handle), or another type of valve.