One good thing here is that we have meter boxes, nothing deep like you all back east.
If we break a meter, we pay the water company to replace it. We are supposed to call the water company to come and shut the water down, but when I show up and need to tturn it off, I don't have the time to wait.
Now, if the meter is hard and will not turn, then I notify the customer I have to wait at an additional charge and the water company will come out, turn it off and then I have to wait for them to return to turn it on
This only happens when the customer has an in-operational isolation valve on the main entering the house.
I have 2 meter keys, one that I purchased from a supply house, large and heavy, but works well and the other is the one that comes with the mcmanics wrench, or the right angle wrench we use to remove nipples in cabinets and hook out c/o adapters to for pulling caps