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Water meters measure the volume of water used by a household
in cubic feet. A residential water meter is not merely useful to
the water company in determining your monthly bill, it can be an
effective tool in your personal effort to conserve two precious
resources: safe drinking water and your hard-earned money. If you
learn to read your meter, you can set your own water conservation
goals, detect plumbing leaks, and learn a lot about water use in
your household. By implementing a simple conservation program, you
can save water and the energy required to heat it, and also help
to ease the environmental burdens associated with water storage,
purification, distribution and treatment facilities.
Where is the
water meter?
Residential water meters are generally located near the street in
front of the house being monitored. They are typically housed in
a covered concrete or plastic casing, but are sometimes simply buried
in the dirt.
Two types of meter are common: straight reading
meters, which are like the odometer in a car, and circular reading
meters, which use a system of series of dials.
How do I read
it?
Straight reading meters display a number on a white background below
the words "cubic feet" under the dial. This number represents
hundreds of cubic feet, the operational water for meter readers;
the last two digits shown on a darker background can be ignored.
Each 100 cubic feet equals roughly 750 gallons.
Circular reading (or round reading) meters are
an older and less common style, consisting of a series of six dials
marked off in divisions of ten. They should be read from the largest
unit (10,000 cf) to the smallest (one cf). If the hand is between
numbers, read the lower number.
Because meters are not reset between readings,
you can calculate how much water has been used since the last official
reading by subtracting the reading recorded in your last bill from
the current reading. For example, if your meter read 135,400 cubic
feet (1354 units) a week earlier and today reads 135,600 (135 units),
it shows that 200 cubic feet have been used. Multiply the 200 by
7.5 to determine the gallons used during the week (1500).
Checking for
leaks
You can use your meter to detect water leaks on your property.
The low flow dial appears as a small colored triangle
on most straight reading meters. It spins if any water is flowing
through the system. During a period of time when no water is being
used in your house - no faucets turned on, irrigation going, showers
being taken nor clothes washed, etc. - look at the low flow dial.
If it is moving clockwise, water is passing through the meter and
you may have a leak somewhere in the system. An oscillating movement
(forward and back) will sometimes occur in sensitive meters due
to changes in line pressure from upstream or downstream water usage;
this can be disregarded. Household appliances that use water automatically,
such as ice-making refrigerators and water softeners, will compromise
your ability to use this method to detect leaks.
Older meters and circular meters generally lack
a low flow dial, but can still be used to detect leaks. Take a reading
at the beginning of a period when no water use is occurring and
again 2 hours later. With the caveats mentioned above, any change
in the reading can indicate a leak.
Leaks of just one drop per second waste 2,700
gallons of water a year, so all leaks should be investigated and
eliminated promptly.
Monitoring
and budgeting your water use
Monitor a single household use at a time to see how much water is
consumed, for example, to take a shower. Compare this figure with
others in your household or with statistics on the average household
consumption.
Average household water use:
- Shower
- 5 to 8 gal./min. for older/traditional models; 2.5 gal./min.
for low-flow models
- Toilet - 3.5 to 5 gal./flush for older
models; 1.6 gal./flush for low-flush toilets
- Laundry - 32 to 50 gal./load for most
front-loaders; 18 to 24 gal./load for front-loaders
- Dishwasher - 13 to 25 gal./load for
older models; 9 to 11 gal./load for high efficiency models; 6
gal./load for European models
- Sinks - 4 gal./min. for conventional
faucets; 1 to 2.75 gal./min. with aerator
- Leaky faucet - depends on the rate of
the drip; 1 drip per second wastes 8.64 gal./day
You can track the progress of your household's
conservation efforts by checking your water meter. Consider setting
a weekly target and monitoring your total water use for that period.
Investigate how changing your habits or upgrading to water-conserving
appliances and hardware affect actual water used.
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