How to read your Water Meter
There are several reasons why you'd want to be able to locate and read your water meter. First, you might be interested in just how much water you use in a day. By reading your meter at the beginning and the end of the day you can compare the two totals to tell how much water you and your family used. The second reason is to check for leaks. If you turn off all the taps in your house, look at your meter and it is still turning, chances are you have a leak somewhere.
Here are some hints to help you find and read your water meter:
STEP 1: Locate Your Meter
Your water meter is generally located near the curb in front of your home or place of business in a direct line with the main outside faucet. It is housed in a concrete or black plastic box. Carefully remove the lid by using a tool such as a large screwdriver. Please, do not use your fingers. Insert the tool into one of the holes and pry the lid off. Visually examine the area around the meter to make sure there are no harmful insects or other animals.
STEP 2: Read Your Water Meter
All customers within the Benton Water Dept. coverage area have their water use measured by a meter. These results in each customer paying their share of operating the system based upon the amount of water used.
There are two basic types of water meters -- the straight-reading meter which resembles an odometer in a car, and the round-reading meter which has several separate dials.
STEP 3: How to Read Your Meter
Benton Water uses several brands of water meters. All have a meter register that looks very much like the odometer in your car, and have six or seven digits to read. The meter readings are read in thousands of gallons. The billing system is programmed to take these meter readings and calculate the correct water usage in thousands of gallons.
Dial Read Meter – This is one of the oldest types of meters in our system. The reading on your bill is derived from reading the digits one at a time from the one million down to the tens, rounding all numbers down to the lower number in the sequence. Your reading on your bill will only reflect the first four digits of this reading. This meter reads 615 or 615,386 gallons of water.
Badger Meter – This is one of the older type meters in our system. The reading on your bill is derived from reading the first four digits that are black in the odometer style reading device, your meters are read in thousands of gallons. This meter reads 2,955 or 2,955,000 gallons of water.
Sensus Meter - This is one type of meter in our system. The reading on your bill is derived from reading the first four digits that are black in the odometer style reading device, your meters are read in thousands of gallons. This meter reads 4,567 or 4,567,000 gallons of water. The red hand is a leak detector, so if everything is off including things like icemakers and it is moving, you have a leak on your side of the meter.
Sensus Meter - This is the newest type of meter in our system. The reading on your bill is derived from reading the first four digits from the left in the odometer style reading device, your meters are read in thousands of gallons. This meter reads 0 or 2.7 gallons of water. The red dial is a leak detector, so if everything is off including things like icemakers and it is moving, you have a leak on your side of the meter. This meter is fitted with a electronic reading device which transmits readings to a computer in a truck at meter reading time.
Water Meter Information
Master Meters – The water sold wholesale to the water associations which provide service to outlying areas of Saline County is measured by a master meter. These are read monthly by personnel from our department and a representative from Water Users, LLC, the office for all of these associations, while we maintain all readings for the master meter at the City of Bauxite.