What You Need to Know About Turning the Outdoor Faucet Back On

The hose bibb, or spigot, is the faucet located on the outside of your house where you connect a garden hose. In winter, homeowners need to turn off the water to their hose bibbs to prevent flooding.

Now, it’s almost time to open them so you can water your garden and enjoy the warmer weather!

Turning the water back on to your outside hose sounds simple enough, but there are some precautions you should take to ensure you don’t end up with water inside your home.

Some homes have frost proof spigots. Frost proof spigots do not need to be turned on or off in the fall/spring, but the only way to entirely prevent the possibility of leaking is by turning off the water to your spigot, frost proof or not.

1. First, tighten (close) the wheel/valve on the spigot(s). You may have left them open during the winter, but be sure they are closed as you are about to turn on the water.
2. Next, locate your water shutoff valve. It is located inside your house, usually in the basement, crawl space or utility room. The valve will be connected to a pipe that leads to the outside where your spigot is connected to your house. If you have more than one spigot, each one will have its own shutoff valve.
3. Now, open the valve to allow water to flow to the spigot. If you have loosened the bleeder valves to allow water to drain when you shut the water off, tighten them now to help prevent leaks.
4. Once the water is flowing, make sure there is a fair amount of water coming out, low pressure may mean there is a leak. Go back inside the home while you let the water run, and check for any leaks before you do anything else! Picture this: you’re outside washing the car or watering the garden, while water leaks inside the basement from a pipe you didn’t realize was cracked because it hasn’t been turned on all winter.

Taking the extra step of going back inside once the water is turned back on can save you a headache later, because pipes and fixtures that have frozen and thawed may not start to leak until full water pressure is re-applied.

Even while we are busy welcoming spring and the warmer weather, we are here to serve you. For more information, or to speak to one of our personal lines representatives, give our office a call at 309-266-7300.