Weekly Quest · Learn
Water Detective
Water Detective sends families on a room-by-room search for every faucet, hose bib, and hidden water source in and around the house, then caps the adventure by finding the main shutoff valve together. It is a genuine detective game that quietly builds real home knowledge. Forty-five minutes, a notepad, and a flashlight are all you need.
This page is a public guide to Water Detective, Week 6 of Outside's 52-week family quest calendar, published by Outside, the family adventure app. The quest challenges families with children ages 4 to 14 to locate every water source in and around their home, then find and learn to operate the main water shutoff valve. Rated Easy, it takes about 45 minutes, earns 250 XP, and awards the Water Wise badge when completed in the Outside app. The guide covers how to run the quest well, age-specific tips, and what practical home knowledge families carry away.
| XP | 250 |
|---|---|
| Time | 45 minutes |
| Week | 6 of 52 |
| Badge | Water Wise |
| Difficulty | Easy |
Why this one sticks
Most families live with their home's plumbing the way they live with weather: something that happens around them, not something they understand. Water Detective changes that in under an hour. Kids who have never thought twice about turning on a tap suddenly want to know where the water comes from, where it goes, and what that mysterious pipe in the basement actually does.
The quest earns its place on the calendar because the knowledge is real and lasting. When you find your main shutoff valve together and every family member sees how it works, that is information your household will actually use someday. The detective frame makes it genuinely fun to get there.
How to run the quest
Start with the notepad and assign one child as the official recorder. Walk every room of the house together and call out water sources out loud before writing them down: bathroom sink, tub, shower, toilet supply line, kitchen faucet, ice maker, refrigerator water line, laundry hookups, utility sink. Then head outside and look for hose bibs, irrigation valves, and any outdoor spigots.
Once the list feels complete, shift into the final mission: find the main shutoff. In most houses it lives near the water meter, often in the basement, a utility room, a crawl space, or outside along the foundation. Use the flashlight. Let the kids lead. When you find it, show everyone how to turn it and talk through when and why a family might need to shut the water off. Log your source count and complete the quest in the Outside app to claim the Water Wise badge.
Making it work for every age
For kids ages 4 to 6, the counting is the adventure. Give them the job of pointing at each source while an older sibling or parent records it. They do not need to understand supply lines; they need to feel like they found something.
Kids ages 7 to 10 can handle the full map. Challenge them to draw a rough floor plan and mark each water source with a dot. The visual result is satisfying and genuinely useful.
Tweens and older kids, ages 11 to 14, can take on the harder questions: How does water get into the house? What is water pressure and why does it matter? Where does the water go after the drain? They can also be the ones to physically locate and test the shutoff valve, which gives the task real weight.
What to expect along the way
Plan for a few surprises. Many families find water sources they had forgotten or never noticed: an outdoor shower hookup, a basement utility sink, a water line to a bar or wet bar. Children are often the best searchers because they look low and in corners that adults walk past.
The shutoff valve is the most common sticking point. If you are in a newer home, check near the water meter or in a mechanical room. Older homes sometimes have the shutoff in an unexpected spot, like behind a panel in a closet or under a utility sink. If you genuinely cannot locate it, your local water utility can usually point you to it, and that conversation is worth having regardless.
What families take away
The Water Wise badge marks something real. Families who complete this quest walk away knowing their home a little better than they did before, and that is not a small thing. Children who helped find the shutoff valve remember where it is. Parents who have never had a reason to locate it now know it by heart.
The ambient skills built here, home systems awareness, water planning, and confident handling of a minor emergency, are exactly the kind of practical confidence Outside is designed to grow. This is not about preparing for disaster. It is about knowing your own home and feeling at ease inside it. That ease is worth 45 minutes on any Saturday.
Draw a map of your home and mark every water source you found today. Put a star on the main shutoff valve. Write two sentences about what surprised you most during the search.
Frequently asked questions
What if we cannot find our main water shutoff valve?
Start near your water meter, which is often outside along the street or inside near where the main line enters the house. Basements, utility rooms, and crawl spaces are the next places to check. If the valve is still a mystery, your local water utility can tell you exactly where to look for your address, and most are happy to help with a quick call.
Is it safe to actually turn the shutoff valve during the quest?
Yes, for a brief test. Give it a quarter turn to show that it moves, then return it to the open position. You do not need to shut the water off completely to understand how the valve works. The goal is familiarity, not a dry run, so a short demonstration is plenty.
How do we complete the quest and get the badge?
The Water Wise badge is earned inside the Outside app. Log your water source count in the app when your search is done, follow the in-app steps to confirm you found the shutoff valve, and your 250 XP and badge will be awarded. The web guide here is a planning resource; the official quest lives in the app.
Can we do this quest in an apartment?
Absolutely. Apartments have plenty of water sources to find, and the hunt is just as satisfying in a smaller space. The main shutoff for an individual unit is often under the kitchen sink or behind an access panel in a bathroom. Your building may also have a main shutoff for the whole unit in a hallway utility closet. Check with your building manager if the in-unit valve is hard to locate.