What’s the Difference Between a Meter Valve, Curb Stop and Service Valves?

When you need to install a shut-off valve between your water supply and your home or business, it can be very confusing deciding exactly which type of valve you need. Your water utility may not make things much clearer, discussing meter valves, curb stops and service valves as being among the options that are placed in line on your water supply lines. Fortunately, we’ve cleared up the issue for you in this post. Here’s a quick rundown of each type of valve, what it does, where it’s located and why it’s used in your water supply line system.

Curb Stop

Moving outward from your home or business, the curb stop cuts off service to the house as the last stop-gap measure to stop the flow of water in an emergency. This is an essential piece of equipment, as it can be used to quickly stop water flow when you have a leak or other serious event that can’t be handled by turning off a shutoff valve at the fixture itself. A good example of when this is used is when you have a leak in your structure’s interior supply lines after a pipe breaks due to freezing weather. Shutting off a fixture shutoff valve won’t control the flow of water at that point because it’s after the break, so you would need to shut off the water at the curb stop, which is also referred to as the main shutoff valve.

Meter Valve

As you move outward towards the water main from the curb stop, you’ll next hit the meter valve. Much as its name suggests, the meter valve shuts off the water at the meter itself, which is typically installed when the meter is put into place. This allows water lines on both sides of the meter to remain full of water and under pressure while the meter is being serviced. This can happen due to a repair needing to take place, a meter downsizing or a standard replacement of a malfunctioning or aging meter as part of regular operations.

Service Valve

Between the water main and the meter is the service valve. The service valve shuts off the water before the meter, and is used in a number of different situations. However, one of the most common is when service is interrupted for one reason or another. At that time, the water utility can go out to the meter and shut the valve, stopping the flow of water.

When you have a better understanding of the differences between your meter valve, curb stop, and service valves, it becomes much easier to determine exactly which part you need and how to decide which variants in those valves will work best for your specific situation. But what if you’re still not quite sure exactly what you need to get the job done? Team RedHed is here to help. Please feel free to reach out today to talk to some of our experienced professional staff to get the answers you need to your water supply questions.