the water would come out with a lot of pressure making complete losses.

If you suffer a burst water pipe, you would use the stop cock to shut off the water until you can have the burst pipe repaired. The stop cock is simply a valve that you can manually turn on or off. The main stop cock is usually near were the water pipes enter the house from outside - mine is in my kitchen. There may be a stop cock on the header tank in the loft, or on the inlet pipe to the hot water tank, or in some other places, such as below the bathroom sink, and so on. When things go wrong with your water supply inside your home, you can't have too many water stop cocks!

If you have a bath mixer installed, open the drain cock, then cover the outlet of the mixer with your hand and open the hot water. Open the cold water just afterwards, this will create a back pressure and force whatever is blocking or clogging the drain cock to come out.

The valve that shuts off the water in a toilet cistern is known as the ball-cock. It is operated by a hollow ball attached to an arm, once the ball floats to a certain level, the valve shuts off the water. This action prevents water flowing out of the over-flow pipe to the outside. The ball and valve is known as the ball-cock.

In a toilet tank or water reservior to regulate filling.