When the water stops completely, it is usually one of a short list of causes. Some are on the water provider's side and some are on yours. Work through these checks in order and you will know who to call.
1. Is it every tap, or just one?
Try the kitchen sink, a bathroom sink, a tub and an outdoor spigot.
- One fixture is dry. The problem is at that fixture: a closed valve underneath, a clogged aerator or cartridge, or a frozen pipe feeding it.
- Only hot water is missing. Look at the water heater. The cold inlet valve on top may be closed, or the heater may have a problem.
- Every tap is dry. The problem is at the main valve, the line from the meter or the water supply itself. Keep going.
2. Check with the neighbors and your water provider
Ask a neighbor whether their water is working. If it is out on the whole street, the cause is probably a main break or planned work by your water provider. Around Beaverton that is the City of Beaverton or Tualatin Valley Water District, depending on where you live. Both post outages and emergency repairs, and both have numbers you can call. If the street is out, there is nothing for a plumber to fix in your house.
3. Check the main shutoff valve
Find the main valve where the water line enters the house. It is often in the garage, the crawlspace near the front wall or near the water heater. Someone may have closed it during a repair, or bumped a lever handle. A round handle should be turned fully counterclockwise; a lever handle should sit in line with the pipe.
If you open it and still have nothing, or the valve will not turn, leave it and move on. Forcing an old valve can break it.
4. Look at the meter
Lift the lid of the meter box near the street and look at the dial with every tap in the house closed. Look for the curb valve too, a small valve on the street side of the meter. If it has been turned off, the water provider may have shut off service, for example over a billing issue or because they found a leak. Call them rather than turning it yourself.
Also look for a missing meter or an empty, broken box. Occasionally a meter is removed for replacement or damaged by a vehicle, and the provider needs to know.
5. Think about the weather
If it has been below freezing, a frozen pipe is the most likely cause, especially if the outage started overnight. Pipes in crawlspaces, along outside walls, in the garage and under sinks on exterior walls are the usual places. Open the cabinet doors under sinks, raise the heat and warm the suspected section with a hair dryer. Never use an open flame.
Keep a faucet open while you thaw so melting water has somewhere to go. Watch closely once water starts moving. A frozen pipe often has a split that only starts leaking as it thaws. Our guide on how to prevent frozen pipes covers what to do before the next cold snap.
6. Look for signs of a break
Low pressure that faded to nothing, a wet patch in the yard, water in the meter box or the sound of running water under the floor all suggest a break in the line between the meter and the house, or in the house itself. Our guide to a water line leak between the meter and the house explains how to tell where it is.
7. Other causes
- A failed pressure reducing valve. The regulator where the main line enters the house can fail closed, cutting flow to the whole house.
- A well pump problem. A few rural properties at the edges of the area run on wells. No water there usually means the pump, pressure switch or tank.
- A clogged line. Old galvanized pipe can rust shut from the inside until flow drops to almost nothing.
Low pressure or no water at all?
It helps to be precise about what you are seeing, because low pressure and no water usually have different causes.
- No water anywhere points to the supply: the street, the meter, the service line, the main valve or a frozen section of pipe.
- Very low pressure everywhere points to a partly closed valve, a failing pressure reducing valve, a leak on the service line or rust narrowing old galvanized pipe.
- Low pressure at one fixture is almost always the fixture itself: a clogged aerator, a blocked cartridge or a kinked supply line.
- Low pressure on the hot side only points to the water heater, its valves or sediment in the tank.
Telling the plumber which of these you have saves time, and sometimes it tells you that the fix is something you can do yourself, like cleaning an aerator.
The pressure reducing valve
Many homes around Beaverton, especially on hillsides and lower-lying streets where the water main pressure is high, have a pressure reducing valve, often called a PRV, where the main line enters the house. It is usually a bell-shaped brass valve right after the main shutoff, with an adjusting screw on top.
The PRV lowers street pressure to a level that is safe for the plumbing inside. Like any valve, it wears out. Some fail open, letting high pressure into the house, which shows up as banging pipes, dripping relief valves and leaking fixtures. Others fail closed, slowly choking the flow until the house has very little water at all. A PRV that has failed needs replacing, which is usually a quick job for a plumber.
Do not try to fix a failing PRV by turning its adjusting screw a long way. Without a gauge, it is easy to set the pressure far too high and damage the plumbing.
How to find out about outages and repairs
When a water main breaks or a crew is working on the system, your water provider is the best source of information. The City of Beaverton and Tualatin Valley Water District both post service alerts and have phone lines for reporting problems. Their notices usually say which streets are affected and roughly when water is expected back.
If there is no posted outage and your neighbors have water, the problem is almost certainly on your side of the meter. If water is gushing in the street or bubbling up near the meter, report it to the provider straight away, since it may be their pipe.
When the water comes back
Whether the water was off because of a main break, a frozen pipe or a repair, a few things are normal when it returns:
- Air in the lines. Faucets may sputter and spit for a minute. Open each faucet slowly and let it run until the flow is steady.
- Cloudy or discolored water. Tiny air bubbles make water look milky, and they clear if you let a glass sit. Brown or rusty water usually comes from sediment stirred up in the pipes. Run the cold taps until it clears.
- Debris in aerators. Bits of sediment can lodge in faucet aerators and shower heads. Unscrew and rinse them if the flow is weak afterwards.
- The water heater. If it was turned off, make sure the tank has refilled, with a hot tap open until water flows, before turning the gas or power back on.
Start with the faucet closest to where the water enters the house and work outward, and run the bathtub tap first, since it usually has no aerator to catch debris.
Planned shutoffs and boil water notices
Sometimes the water is off because the provider planned it, to replace a main or connect a new line. They usually notify affected homes in advance with a door hanger or a notice. Keep an eye out for those, and fill a few containers before the shutoff starts.
After certain main breaks, a provider may issue a boil water notice if there is a chance the water was contaminated. Follow the instructions in the notice exactly, usually bringing water to a rolling boil before drinking or cooking with it, until the provider says the water is safe again.
Keep emergency water on hand
A water outage is a good reminder that every household should have water stored for emergencies. Oregon's emergency management agency encourages people to be ready to look after themselves for two weeks after a major disaster, including stored water for drinking, cooking and hygiene. Even a smaller supply, a few cases of bottled water and some large jugs, makes a short outage far easier.
Your water heater tank also holds a useful amount of clean water in an emergency. If you ever need it, turn off the gas or power first, close the cold inlet valve and drain water from the valve at the bottom.
Old galvanized pipe that slowly closes up
In some older homes, the water never shuts off suddenly. Instead, pressure gets a little worse every year until a shower barely runs. That is often galvanized steel pipe rusting on the inside. The rust builds up as scale that narrows the pipe until very little water can get through, with the worst spots usually at fittings and in horizontal runs.
Cleaning out galvanized pipe is not practical. Once it reaches that stage, replacing the affected sections, or repiping the house with PEX or copper, restores full pressure. Our emergency pipe repair page covers both.
A frozen main line
The main line is usually buried deep enough to stay above freezing, but the short section where it rises out of the ground into the house, or where it runs through a crawlspace to the main shutoff, can freeze in a long cold snap. If the whole house loses water on a freezing morning and the neighbors still have theirs, that section is a likely suspect.
Check the crawlspace or garage where the line enters for frost on the pipe. Warm the area gently with a space heater kept at a safe distance or a hair dryer, never an open flame, and open a faucet so water can flow once it thaws. Watch closely as it thaws, since a split pipe will start leaking. Our guide on how to prevent frozen pipes covers how to protect that section next winter.
What a plumber checks on a no-water call
When you call about no water, a plumber works from the street toward the house, checking each point where the flow could stop:
- The meter and curb valve, to confirm water is reaching your property and the valve is open.
- The service line, looking for wet ground, a sunken area or signs of a break between the meter and the house.
- The main shutoff and the pressure reducing valve where the line enters, testing pressure before and after each.
- Exposed pipes in the crawlspace or garage, in cold weather, looking for frozen or split sections.
- Branch valves and the water heater valves, if only part of the house is affected.
A pressure gauge on an outdoor spigot or a laundry tap tells the plumber a lot in a few seconds. Most no-water calls are solved somewhere in that list, and once the cause is found, the repair is often straightforward.
Common questions
Why do I have water in some taps but not others?
That usually points to a frozen section of pipe, a closed valve on a branch line or a problem at the fixtures themselves. If only the hot taps are dry, check the valves on the water heater.
Can I still flush the toilets with no water?
Each toilet will flush once from its tank. After that, pour a bucket of water quickly into the bowl to flush it.
Is it safe to drink the water after an outage?
Usually yes, once you have run the taps until the water is clear. If your provider issues a boil water notice, follow it until they lift it.
Who pays if the problem is at the meter?
Problems at the meter and on the street side are generally the water provider's responsibility. Problems on the house side of the meter belong to the property owner.
Could a closed valve really be the whole problem?
Yes, more often than people expect. After a repair, a remodel or a visit from someone checking the plumbing, a main or branch valve is sometimes left partly or fully closed. Check every valve you can find before assuming something is broken.
Should I turn off the water heater when the water is out?
If the outage will last more than a short while, or you are not sure the tank is full, turning a gas heater to pilot or switching off the breaker for an electric one is a sensible precaution. Turn it back on only after the water is restored and a hot tap runs steadily.
Why did my water heater make noise after the water came back?
Air trapped in the tank and pipes can make gurgling and knocking noises for a short time. If the noise continues, or the heater was turned on before it refilled, have it checked.
When to call a plumber
Call if the street has water and you do not, if a pipe has burst, if a frozen pipe has split, if the main valve will not open or if you see water where it should not be. Tell us what you have already checked. If the neighbors have water and your main valve is open, that one fact points us straight to the line or the valves. Our water main repair and emergency pipe repair pages explain what we do next.
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