How do I read my water meter? – Alert Labs

Flowie and Your Water Meter

Water meters are found in residential and commercial buildings that use a public water supply system. These meters are designed to keep track of how much water is consumed by a particular household or business.

Water meters are usually found in basements, near the main water line. Another common location for a residence is in the garage.

They are sophisticated pieces of equipment that vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and from municipality to municipality. They also vary depending on the size of water pipe that feeds into them and their age.

Flowie is designed to fit on any type of water meter. Place Flowie as low on the meter as you can. Here are some guidelines about where to put it:

For meters with a metal bottom half, try to strap the sensor just below where the plastic dial and metal meet.
For meters that are all plastic, try to strap the sensor near the middle, or where the meter starts to flare out

Wrap the adjustable band snugly around your water meter. The band can fit around bumps and bulges, so just make sure the orange case, itself, is right up against the water meter.

Click on the image to zoom

Reading Your Water Meter

There are lots of different kinds of water meters, but the layout is generally the same: on the face of the meter, the water reading is displayed near the bottom, arranged similarly to the odometer in a car. Some meters are measured in gallons, rounding to the nearest full gallon, while other -- generally newer -- meters may be measured in cubic meters and include decimals.

The information below contains references to the place value of numbers. In case it's been a while since math class, here's a quick reminder of the positions or place values of numbers within the decimal system.

General rules for reading your meter:

Note the unit of measurement listed on the face of your water meter dial (cubic meters, gallons, etc.).
If present, use the odometer reading first. That will record the higher value water usage (the ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, etc. of consumption).

If a permanent "0" is printed at the end of the odometer on a gallons water meter, the ones column will be represented by a sweep hand.

Smaller portions (the tenths, hundredths, thousandths, etc. after decimals) may be indicated in the odometer, by sweep hands similar to an analog clock, or a mixture of both.

Within the odometer,

decimal points may be written on the face as a period or comma (as with the first and second examples below, respectively).
They may also be distinguished by inverting or changing the colours (as seen in the second and third examples below, respectively).
While the larger positions will click from one fully displayed number to the next, the smallest number position (usually a decimal position) will likely roll incrementally as water flows through. The smallest number displayed in that position, even if only partially shown, is what should be recorded in a reading. See examples below.

When sweep hands are present, the odometer may display up to two decimal places, with any smaller portions indicated by the position of the hands on the dial.

Examples & Instructions
Click on the example pictures below to view a larger version.

Analog - Odometer style

The water use for this meter is:

182.470 m³

Things to note about this meter:

5/8" pipe rating.
Measured in cubic meters (m³).
A permanent thousands separator on the dial, indicated by a comma (,).
A permanent decimal place on the dial, indicated by a period (.)

The "0" in the thousandths decimal position is starting to turn.

While the other positions do full clicks to the next number (e.g. fully displayed 7 to fully displayed 8), the thousandths position is slowly rolled forward as water flows through.
It is read as the smallest number displayed, even when partially shown, until the next number is the only number showing.
In this example, it's read as "0", until the "1" is the only number you can see in that position.

Analog - Odometer and small sweep hand

The water use for this meter is:

7734.042 m³

Things to note about this meter:

5/8" pipe rating.
Measured in cubic meters (m³).
Reading is split between an odometer and a small sweep hand.
A permanent decimal place on the dial, indicated by a comma (,).
Decimal position in the odometer is also indicated by inverted colours.

There is one decimal position in the odometer (tenths), plus a small sweep hand.
The "0" in the tenths decimal position is starting to turn.

While the other positions do full clicks to the next number (e.g. 7 to 8), the tenths position is slowly rolled forward as water flows through.
It is read as the smallest number displayed, even when partially shown, until the next number is the only number showing.
In this example, it's read as "0", until the "1" is the only number you can see in that position.

The sweep hand continues the decimals where the odometer left off (hundredths as long marks and thousandths as short marks).

For the small sweep hand, each long mark is worth 0.01 m³.
It takes 5 short marks to reach a long one.
Each short mark is worth 0.002 m³ (0.01 m³/5).

Analog - Odometer and large sweep hand

The water usage for this meter is:

301.192 m³

Things to note about this meter:

5/8" and 3/4" pipe rating written.

Check the stamped rating on the side of your water meter to determine which pipe rating your meter is using.

Measured in cubic meters (m³).
Reading is split between an odometer and a large sweep hand.
The numbers in the last position on the odometer are red, indicating they're in the first decimal position (tenths).

The "2" in the tenths decimal position is still turning into place.

While the other positions do full clicks to the next number (e.g. 7 to 8), the tenths position is slowly rolled forward as water flows through.
It is read as the smallest number displayed, even when partially shown, until the next number is the only number showing.
In this example, since the "1" is still visible at the top of the position, it's read as "1" until the "2" is the only number you can see in that position.

The sweep hand continues to measure the smaller decimal positions (hundredths as long marks, thousandths as short marks).

Each long mark is worth 0.01 m³.
It takes 10 short marks to reach a long mark.
Each short mark is worth 0.001 m³ (0.001m³/10).

Analog - Odometer and large sweep hand

The water usage for this meter is:

8.3 gal

Things to note about this meter:

5/8" pipe rating.
Measured in gallons.
Reading is split between an odometer and a large sweep hand.

The "1" in the tens position (the last position on the odometer, since there's a permanent "0" written beside it as the ones column) is turning.

While the other positions do full clicks to the next number (e.g. 7 to 8), the tens position is slowly rolled forward as water flows through.
It is read as the smallest number displayed, even when partially shown, until the next number is the only number showing.
In this example, it's read as "0", until the "1" is the only number you can see in that position.

A permanent "0" at the end of the odometer indicates that the sweep hand represents the number in the ones column.

Digital Reading

The water usage for this meter is:

197.9955 m³

Things to note about this meter:

5/8" pipe rating.
Measured in cubic meters (m³).
Has a cover to help preserve the display and battery.
The reading is only temporarily displayed after lifting the cover. If it disappears before you're done with the reading, close and open the lid to trigger it to display again.
Some digital meters require light for activation, so you may need to shine a flashlight on it to take a reading.

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