can water lines for toilets be separate from main line????

15 years ago

I'm wanting to replace a toilet shutoff valve with a new quarter-turn valve. I've already done the sink shutoff valves in the same bathroom. Yet if I shut off the cold water to the house, I still get flow through the toilet shutoff valve. Why would a house be plumbed such that lines to the toilets seem independent of the main shutoff? Or am I missing something here? Other than cutting power to the well pump, what else can I do?

Featured Answer

kudzu9

2 years ago

When you shut off the water main and someone flushes a toilet, does the meter show flow? If it does, you have a defective main shutoff and you need to talk to your utility. If it doesn't show flow, I have no idea where that water could be coming from, but it's definitely weird. Try what I suggested, and report back on what you find.

Comments (13)

frodo_2009
15 years ago
when you turn off the water, at the main valve
there will still residual water in the lines..try this
turn main valve off, open outside hose bib.open sink faucet
flush toilet..does it fill back up?
if not..change the valve..there will be a little water in pipe. the toilet is the lowest point in system
wa8b
15 years ago
Do you have a water softener? If so, could it be that the valve you think is the main shutoff is only the shutoff for softened water? I've seen plumbing arranged in houses with well water set up so that showers, tubs and sinks get softened water, but hose bibbs and toilets are supplied with water that bypasses the softener.
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frodo_2009
15 years ago
thats true wa8b..so now is the time to determine
what turns off what
you need to find the main valve for the whole house
from your well, there ought to be 1 line run over to the house..then depending on WHERE or IF you have a watersoftener..
there should be a valve for the softener loop
clermont_ohio
Original Author
15 years ago
I turned off every valve possible in my garage, including those in the water softener loop. Is it possible there's that much residual water? The water would spew from the shutoff valve if I let it.
llaatt22
15 years ago
So you shut off the water from the well, you open all the sink, bath tub, faucets, let them drain and you still have water pressure at your toilet shut off? That is odd. Is there more than one pressure tank? Could the toilets have there own unit?
frodo_2009
15 years ago
when you turned off the water, did you open the outside faucets then flush the toilet
brickeyee
15 years ago
Depending on relative elevation of the pipes you could have to drain a pretty decent amount of water.

Just about all the piping above the valve you want to replace will need to be emptied out.
In some cases there are enough dips in the distribution piping that much of the water remains trapped and will not drain, and in other cases the system will drain almost completely if the valve you are working on is the lowest spot.

Water flowing under gravity and draining out of the pipes does not make as much noise as water moving under pressure, but sometimes it is still hard to tell.

Open as many faucets as you can since air needs to get into the pipes to allow the water to move out.
garymunson-2008
15 years ago
You said 'cold water' in your 1st post. Some plumbers hooked toilets up to the hot water line to prevent tank sweating.....
clermont_ohio
Original Author
15 years ago
Resolution: Cutting power to the well pump was sufficient to stop flow to the toilet valve without turning off any stop valves around the meter.
Joe Deal
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I just encountered the same problem in that 2 toilets upstairs that are not dependent on the water main. I opened every faucet, shower, and outdoor fixture. No water running from anywhere. But, I can flush both toilets over and over. I'm new to the PNW, but I can't imagine this is to code or on purpose. I checked mine bc my neighbor's whole house flooded and he discovered this trying to turn off the main
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
2 years ago
I've heard of connecting toilets to the hot water line to prevent condensation. Try turning off the hot please.
Joe Deal
2 years ago
I had both hot and cold lines open on all fixtures throughout the house. Everything loses all pressure after the lines clear and water stops coming out of everything. But, I can flush these 2 toilets over and over and they refill at presumably normal pressure levels (I don't have a pressure gauge I can attach to the toilet line to test exact numbers, but the tank fills at the same pace as normal). The water in the tank is cold as it fills, as well.

If there's no code exception as to why they did this, I have to suspect the plumber somehow pulled a line from the the supply side of the water main. My neighbor (referenced in my first post) got $35k in damages. The toilet tank overflowed bc the float switch broke. My theory I'm going to work to prove is that bypassing the main also bypassed a pressure regulator, which causes the high pressure to break the valve. Our houses were built in 2017, just for reference. Some of his walls have been opened up to remediate the water damage, so I'm going to see if I can go over there and trace lines.

Thank you for your suggestions and help!