How to Read Your Water Meter
Learning to locate and read different types of water meters is actually very simple, and this skill can help you save money in the long run and better control your water usage. This article will help you understand how to read your water meter.
Find Your Water Meter
The location of the water meter may vary depending on different usage scenarios. In house, it may be in the garden, driveway, backyard, or near the boundary wall. In apartments, it is often installed in corridor pipe boxes or meter cabinets. The water meter is usually placed inside a stone or metal box marked “Water Meter”. Don’t forget to wear gloves when opening the meter box to avoid touching a hot lid or encountering wild animals. If the meter glass is hazy, you can tap it gently to make it clear.
Identity Your Water Meter
Water meters are usually divided into two types: mechanical water meters and smart water meters. Mechanical water meters display water consumption through pointers or numerical dials, while smart water meters combine mechanical and electronic principles and, in addition to basic water usage display functions, also have advanced features such as automatic meter reading. Here we will teach you how to read mechanical water meters.
Read The Dial
Most dial plates of mechanical water meters look like the one pictured in the below.
The star wheel in the middle of the dial is called Low Flow Indicator: The Low Flow Indicator will rotate with very little water movement. Any water moving through the meter is detected so even small leaks will register.
The dial is marked with “m³,” which means cubic meters, indicating that the unit of water consumption is cubic meters. Next to each pointer there are multipliers such as ×0.01 and ×0.1. Multiply the number indicated by each pointer (if the pointer is between two numbers, take the smaller one) by the corresponding multiplier and then add the results together to obtain the meter reading. To convert cubic feet to gallons, multiply the number of cubic feet by 7.48.