Almost every metered customer receives a water bill every year based on an actual meter reading. Sometimes, property owners are forced to take the actual meter readings themselves since meters are usually fitted within the property. Most private properties are often locked, and this locks out water company professionals. In such a situation, you will receive a meter reading card in the mail requesting you to feed in the actual meter reading and send it back the water service provider. Also, reading the water meter by yourself helps you monitor the water usage in your home or institution. In this piece, we will discuss the steps required to read a water meter.
Locate The Water Meter
Most water meters are located near the front part of the property, usually inside the fence. If you are new to the surrounding, you may need to look deeper to find the water meter. Also, if you spot the compound’s stop tap, you might have just found the meter because the tap normally sits adjacent to the meter.
Actual Reading
At the top of the water meter, you should see a number of digits displaying the amount utilized in liters and kiloliters. You will notice that some numbers are scribbled on black plates and white plates to denote kiloliters and others on red plates to denote liters.
Types Of Water Meters
Here are the common types of water meters:
Digital Display Meters
You can differentiate these meters by their digit display allocations that may hold between six to eight digits. Bear in mind that you are reading the actual meter so you can send it to the water company. This requires you to fill out the numbers you see on it, copy the digits directly to the sheet sent to you by mail. Since you are copying the exact figures from the meter, it is advisable to use a black pen to feed in the kiloliters figures and a red pen to enter the liters.
Dial Face Display Meters
If you find a dial face display meter, the kiloliters are normally denoted by the black digital display located on the upper end of the meter. The liters are represented in the dials that swing clockwise. They require the reader to record what the pointer points its head at. Therefore, you will write down each digit from each dial moving clockwise to record the liters and the kiloliters.
Determining If There Is A Leak
Having the knowledge and know-how of reading a water meter puts you at a better position to check for any probable leaks. Write down the initial meter reading when no one is around to use even a drop of water and then give it a few hours or days before checking again to see if the readings have changed. If the number increased, then you may consider having the source of the leakage checked and fixed.
If you follow the simple procedure highlighted above, you will be able to read the water meter comfortably and effectively manage water resources around your household.
