Hot Water Heater Problem

[PrivatePyle]

Hello. I just found out my hot water heater has been leaking, my next water bill is $500, which I don't have, let alone the money for a new hot water heater. Is there a way to cap off the water line that goes into the hot water heater so I can keep the water on to my house? I can live without hot water for a little while until I can figure out how to get a new one but I at least need cold water. I'm not the most mechanical guy in the world so I don't know what I'm doing.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer.

[akaothermick]

Yes you can cap the waterline, if this is an electric water heater the first thing you need to do is locate the breaker that supplies the power and turn it off. If it is gas you need to turn off the gas valve that feeds it, it should be in the gas line close by to the burner control. The two water lines going into the water heater on top need to be capped off, but these lines should have valves on them, if they do just close them and now you will have only cold water. These lines if they do'nt have valves have to be cut and capped. But the next step is to determine the type and size of water lines they are, if they are copper, you need to obtain compression caps to fit in order to cap of the lines using crescent wrenches. But this operation will be done after the water to the whole house is turned off. Look for a valve near the water meter and close it before proceeding. You can get yourself in a big mess if done incorrectly. How in the heck did you run up a bill of $500 for water, did you fill a swimming pool?

[HayZee518]

Is there a valve going to your cold water supply? If so just shut it off. If not, shut off the house water and "break" the union. If there is no union just a straight sweat to tank fitting, cut off the tubing and use a shark bite fitting with a cap screwed onto it. then turn your water supply back on.