Figure 6, A, shows an adjustable socket-lever handle, ground key, flat way, stop and waste cock to shut off water to part or all of a piping system and to drain the higher situated pipes from which the flow is cut off. A stop and waste should always be placed on the house supply pipe just inside the house or the cellar wall. They are very useful on branch pipes from a cellar or kitchen to upstairs or back rooms subject to freezing temperatures or other temporary discontinuance of the supply. Figure 6, B, shows the disassembled parts, all of which except the handle are brass. The key or plug is ground to a water-tight fit in the body of the cock, and water is turned on or off by giving the handle a quarter turn. Turning the handle crosswise of the pipe shuts off the supply, and the dead water drains back through the small round hole in the side of the plug and out the waste tube.

Many stop and waste cocks have broken or bent handles or are otherwise rendered useless, because people do not understand them. As received from dealers, the nut on the bottom of the plug is generally screwed up tight, making it difficult or impossible to turn the handle and plug. Long periods of disuse frequently cause the plug to stick fast in the body. The plug is easily loosened by slightly unscrewing the bottom nut and striking the lower end of the plug a few light blows with a hammer. Slight leakage caused by wear of the plug or dirt around it may be prevented by cleaning the plug and tightening the bottom nut. A plug badly worn from long or continual use can be reground, but it is usually better and cheaper to get a new plug or a complete new cock.