OKgrassguy, it is a mixed blessing on the farm. For the most part just what the doctor ordered. After two full years of no rain and triple digit heat for 5-months a year, it is a big turn around. So far only a single 90 degree day in N TX this year PeopleÂs water wells are now pumping water again, my stock ponds and reservoirs (everyone else too) are finally full from yesterdays rains. Corn is the tallest and healthiest I have ever witnessed around here (usually burnt to a crisp by now), and everything is green. With corn prices so high from ethanol pressure, it is going to be a stellar year for corn farmers this year. On the flip side, I have quite a bit of sod production areas under water from time-to-time around the creek beds. However with the floods comes free top soil evenly distributed with no labor cost. Lots of delays in harvesting sod waiting for what can be harvested to dry out enough to get the equipment in. Fortunately I have sandy loam, so it only takes a day or two of dry weather to dry things out. I have lost several acres of sod from being drowned, but not a devastating loss. The rest is so productive it makes up for it and provides a seed crop to replant the drowned areas later. Landscaping biz (my SonÂs biz) is good, just a lot of down days. However irrigation side is non existent. Only real complaint is tomato and pepper plants are suffering. Their feet are too wet and not enough sun to put fruit on. If it dries up a bit with some sunshine they should recover if the heat doesnÂt jump above 100. Anyway glad the usual summer high pressure ridge moved out of here this year and now someone else has to deal with heat and drought that it brings.

Depending upon the quality/style of valve there may be some shortening of it's life expectancy. The symptom you are describing is indicative of a slow leak, somewhere. Next time, before you open the main, check the water level in all the toilet tanks. Also hot water has a slightly greater volume than cold water.

If it is a gate valve it will take several turns to completely open or close it. Does it look similar to the attached picture? If you have enough buildup in the bottom of the water heater, it won't drain. Your pressure relieve discharge piping is not installed correctly. Here is a link to some good info: TPR valves and discharge piping

The seals in shut off valves, at least older models, have a tendency to deteriorate over time just sitting there as they are used infrequently and the packing/seals can deform or go bad. The simplest fix for this is to shut off your main water valve, open a couple of taps that are at low points in the system to drain it, and remove and replace the valve with a new one. The newer models that have a quarter turn to shut off or to open typically have a nylon ball as a valve and you should not end up with this problem in the future if you do the replacement. Trust me, it should be a lot easier to put in a new valve than to try to repair the old one. It's usually a quick job as long as the old valve isn't rusted onto the piping. If you don't have some experience doing plumbing repair, it would be best to get a knowledgeable friend to help or pay a plumber as there are different size connections on these valves, and the connection to the piping can be screw-on or compression, or (less often) soldered on.