How to Read Your Own Water Meter
When reading all types of water meters, it is important to note that only the data on the number of cubic meters of water consumed is included in the consumption calculation. The indicators showing the cubic meters of water are pointers or numbers (engraved on rollers) colored black. Liters and milliliters, as components of a cubic meter, are marked in red, and depending on the type and model of the water meter, the indicators may consist solely of pointers or a combination of pointers and numbers on rollers. It is important to note that these readings are not submitted as a meter reading but are used only for testing and verifying the water meter in specialized laboratories or as a guide for rounding the final recorded cubic units of water consumed.
**Reading a Combined Water Meter with a Digital Roll and Three Red
Pointers**With these meters, reading the meter is very easy. The information on the cubic meters is a string of digits located in a window. These digits are black. The pointer markings indicate liters and are red. Depending on the water meter model, there may be 3 or 4 of these pointers, each indicating x 0.0001, x 0.001, x 0.01, or x 0.1 parts of a cubic meter. However, these readings are not taken into account when reading the water meter. The customer provides the operator only with the set of black digits displayed in the window labeled m³ (cubic meter).
**Reading a combined water meter with black and red digital rollers and a single red
pointer**This is another type of water meter. Reading these meters is also very easy. With this type of meter, the display window shows both black and red digits. The black digits indicate the cubic meters, while the red digits next to them indicate the liters that make up that volume. At the base of the reading mechanism, there is also a red pointer that indicates 0.0001 of a liter. All red indicators on this meter are used for the verification testing of water meters when they are tested in specialized laboratories and are disregarded when the customer reports the reading to the operator. Only the numerical value derived from the black digits is reported. The red digits, arranged next to the black ones, serve only as a guide when rounding the final reading.
**Reading Pointer-Type Water
Meters**One of the most common types of water meters. A water meter that is more difficult to read but very reliable in operation. As with other meters, the black pointers indicate cubic meters (m³), while the red ones indicate the liters per 1 m³. These water meters are equipped with four black pointers, three red pointers, and one red triangle pointer. The triangle pointer is shaped like a triangle—hence its name—but serves solely to assess the meter’s sensitivity. It, along with the three red pointers, is ignored when submitting the reading. Only the readings of the black pointers are reported.
How do you read this meter?
— Look at the black pointers. First, read the pointer labeled x 1000. The
pointer must be in a position indicating a number directly below it. Write it down. If the pointer is positioned between two digits, you will use the digit that corresponds to the position of the x100 pointer. Now look at the pointer labeled x100. Depending on where this pointer is pointing, determine which digit to record based on the position of the x10 pointer. And so on until the final reading indicated by the pointer labeled x1. The number obtained from the black pointers is recorded as the current reading of the water meter, expressed in cubic meters of water (m³).
Important: With these meters, it is important to know that each dial moves in a 1:10 ratio relative to the next one. That is, when the x 1 m³ pointer makes one full revolution, the x 10 m³ pointer moves only one division. When the x 1 m³ pointer makes a full rotation, the x 10 m³ pointer moves one division. When the x 100 m³ pointer completes one full rotation, the x 1,000 m³ pointer also moves one division. When the x 1,000 m³ completes a full revolution, the final reading of this meter is 9999 m³ and the water meter resets itself to zero, after which the sequence of actions described above repeats. Each shift of the pointers by one division occurs in the sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, down to 0.
Example: (see the photo below)
In this photo, we have a water meter with a random reading that we need to report as a numerical expression of the amount of water consumed: We
look at the mechanism and focus on the BLACK hands. The red ones are not relevant.
- We look at the black pointer labeled x 1000, which is written beneath it on the dial: We
see that the pointer is positioned between 0 and 1. Therefore, the meter has not reached 1, so we cannot record 1 as the meter’s initial reading; instead, we record...... **0_ _ _
m³2. Now we look at the black pointer labeled x 100. We see that the pointer has passed the number 5 but has not reached the number 6. So we take the number 5 as the reading. And we add to the record:......05_ _ m³**.
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We move on to the pointer labeled x 10. We see that it is exactly between the digits 2 and 3, but has not passed 3. We take the digit 2 and add it to the reading....052_ m³.
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We reach the final digit of the reading, i.e., the x 10 pointer. We see that it is exactly on the digit 5. We accept this and enter it in the reading: 0525 m³.
Ultimately, this meter reads 525 m³. When we want to get a rough estimate or round off the reading, we look at the red pointers, which in this case indicate 124 liters. So, in this case, our water meter reads 525 m³ and 124 liters. This means that after another 876 liters, this water meter will read 526 m³.