Using and Reading a Water Meter

Obviously the primary use for a water meter is to let the water company know how much water you use so they can charge you for it. There are, however, a few other uses for your water meter.

Areas with a metered water supply can be managed more efficiently than those without water meters. The water company, as well as the city, county, state, and federal governments, can use water meter figures to determine how much water is being used by customers and how much is being wasted by evaporation or leaks in the system. They can determine how much is being used by various customer groups: farmers, industries, households, geographical areas, or any other group they need to know about.

This information is valuable in the intelligent planning of future water needs in any area. It allows planners to base their recommendations for new facilities on actual water usage rather than on guesses and estimates, which they would have to use if there were no meters. Many of the political controversies about water in New York City could probably be settled much more quickly and easily if they had more water meters to prove what is happening to the water after it enters each location.

Reading a Water Meter

In most areas, water is measured in cubic feet and you are charged for water on the basis of how many hundreds of cubic feet you use. Three types of meters are commonly used in the United States for home water consumption measurement. One of them has a direct digital readout that resembles the odometer on your automobile. This kind usually has a sweep needle that measures one cubic foot with each revolution. The one-cubic-foot dial is divided into tenths.

The second type has a large dial and also a sweep needle that indicates the passage of one cubic foot of water with each revolution. In addition, it has five small dials that all move clockwise. Each is divided into tenths, and each is labeled for the number of cubic feet it records with each revolution- 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, and 100,000. To read this kind of meter, look at the 100,000 dial first and note the smallest of the two numbers near the needle. Then note the reading of each of the other dials in descending order, the last digit coming from the 10 dial.

The most common type of water meter is the one with six dials. It operates and is read the same way as the one with five small dials except that the dials alternate clockwise and counterclockwise in their motion. Look carefully and be sure to note the smaller of the two numbers nearest the needle on each dial. The one-foot dial is usually not marked with ten divisions on this type of meter. This dial is mainly intended to show the passage of water, like when you are trying to detect a leak.

Most water companies charge by the hundreds of cubic feet of water, so they only read and record the first three digits from the meter.