Week 7: Learn to Shut Off Your Utilities

This week's task:  Learn how and when to shut off your utilities (electricity, natural gas, water, etc).  Make sure you have the right tools to do so.

After an earthquake (or in other circumstances), you may need to turn off your utilities.  Learn what to do and what tools you will need.

Natural Gas (from PG&E's website):    

Take action if:  You smell gas or hear a blowing or hissing noise.  

What to do:

1. Open a window & leave the building 
2. Turn off the gas at the main value, if possible.  Click here for specific instructions (with illustrations).  The gas valve is hard to turn.  Make sure you have a sturdy wrench with a long enough handle to give you some leverage. 
3. Call the gas company or 911 from a neighbor's phone.

Note: PG&E recommends that you do not turn off the gas after an earthquake unless you believe you have a leak.  If you do turn it off for any reason, you have to wait for it to be turned on by a professional (after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, it took 3 weeks to get everyone's gas turned back on).  

Electricity (from 72hours.org):

Take action if:

• Arcing or burning occurs in electrical devices.
• There is a fire or significant water leak.
• You smell burning insulation.
• The area around switches or plugs is blackened and/ or hot to the touch.
• A complete power loss is accompanied by the smell of burning material.

What to do:   

1. Locate your main electric switch, which is normally in the garage or outdoors. The panel box may have a flip switch or pull handle on a large circuit breaker.  
2. If the power goes out, turn off all electric appliances, and unplug major electric appliances to prevent possible damage when the power is turned back on.

If you see downed power lines, stay away from them to avoid being shocked, injured or killed.  Never touch wires lying on the ground or hanging on poles.  Don't touch an object that is touching a downed power line.   

Water:

Take action after a strong earthquake (to keep out contaminated water from burst lines outside your home - listen to the radio to see if the water supply is okay) or if a leak is starting to cause indoor flooding.

What to do:  Turn off your water at the main valve.  Watch this video from EBMUD to learn how.

If a single appliance is causing flooding (e.g. a toilet) you can shut off the water to that appliance only.   To learn more about how the water system in your house works and how to do basic plumbing repairs, download this EBMUD publication.