BE VERY CAREFULL!!!!

The instructions to light the pilot on you water heater should be found on the outside of the the tank above the controls. If you're not sure, call a professional plumber. Pilot lights can go out for a number of reasons, so learning how to probably light your water heater may be a valuable lesson to learn. It's much, much easier to do this with a barbeque style lighter. Many new water heaters have a much easier, self igniter.

Only Gas Powered water heaters have a pilot light, so if you have an electric water heater and it's not working, it's not the pilot light.