I live in an area served by a rural water district and even though I’m in a developed neighborhood, I have to read my water meter every month or pay the water company $25 to come out and read it. This seems weird to me.
Does anyone else read their own meter?
No. I don’t even see where the meter is> I know where the shutoff valve is in the yard but don’t see a meter. I would like to keep track of my water usage. A very lightly running toilet doubled my usage one time and I would like to know about it before the damage is done. Where is your meter and what does it look like?
Near the street. It’s just a dial about a foot underground.
We don’t even have one. Our city does not charge water use for residential properties, but it does for commercial ones. We aren’t directly charged for waste/recycling/composting pickup either.
No need, water meter is read remotely by town.
No. I know where it is and what it looks like but I’ve never seen a water meter reader here so I’m not sure how my town (rural podunk town) measures water usage. We do get billed by the gallon so they obviously must measure it somehow.
I live rural and the water company comes by in a truck to read the meters remotely . They don’t even have to get out. The meter’s underground about 25 feet from the road.
I don’t even skim it.
Remote read by the utility company.
I live in a senior park. The park gets charged as a whole and each lot is charged a share according to the number of bathrooms. I don’t think there’s even a meter for the park as it’s the same amount each month.
Same here.
Power, I do have to go out and read, and then report it via my net account with power co.
Water and electric (no gas) is read remotely by the relevant utility.
Our electric and gas meters are AMI meters (i.e. the remotely read kind). But our water meters are still read by a guy who cracks open the meter box, and records the reading on some kind of mobile device. From what I understand, there’s a plan in motion to retrofit all the residential meters as AMI meters, but it’s a long term thing.
Finally I can tell my water meter story. This is two separate story lines that cross paths.
Story 1. We had a young relative staying with us for a couple of weeks. He drove from California to Ohio to get treatment for heart problems at the Cleveland Clinic. He had previously done some time for transporting drugs and was out. Unknown to all of us he was being watched by the Feds as they suspected he was still involved. So one day he jumps in his car and drives 3000 miles. Hmm. The Feds and locals planned a raid on his location. Our house.
Story 2. A friend of the family had been having issues with the Cleveland Water Co, a notoriously ruthless utility. (Note: Mr fugitive had stayed at their house years ago). The water co. was claiming they read the meter and had charged the friend a bunch of money. I went to the house and popped the manhole and read the meter and it was not even close to what they claimed. So I decided to take a photo of the meter and head downtown with my evidence.
I went there one morning and began setting up my stuff. The manhole was filled with water over the meter and I had brought a pump and 100 feet of extension cord. I began pumping the water out and when it was low enough I half crawled into the manhole, put my camera in there a took a few pictures. Then packed up and booked.
Here is where the stories begin to cross:
The Feds, knowing the address was previously used (Aha! A hideout!) had staked out the joint with an undercover video team. I got home and within a few minutes my driveway was filled with squad cars, black vans and about 25 armed cops. I met them on the front porch and managed to calm them down with my self assured, professional mannerism (scared shit less).
Once they told me who they were looking for the whole thing became clear and I invited a few inside and we all became best friends. I even flirted with one cute BATF agent. “Wow, is that an Uzi?” At this point the remote team had vacated the stakeout and called in. I listened as the voice on the walkie talkie described my actions at the water meter manhole. I laughed and spoke up, “Hey that was me doing that strange stuff”. My new bestie leveled the Uzi at me. Ooops. A quick explanation cleared things up.
At this point Mrs Mixdenny explains why the relative had quickly driven here and calls the fugitive. He had actually driven by and seen the commotion. She talked him into coming home and surrendering. After they cuffed him we were all friends again. Hands were shaken, backs were patted. I walked Ms Uzi to her Swat van.
As they all drove away I looked around at all the neighbors standing on their front porches. Oh crap. I waved.
Same here. The city is replacing all water meters with electronic meters that send the reading automatically.
But I have a question about how they work: what is the power source for the electronics?
I was told by the plumber who instslled it that it has a SIM card and dials automtically to report the water usage. But there is no electric power lconnected to the meter. So there must be a battery inside, although I can’t see a battery compartment . How often does it need replacing?.
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Remote electric and water reading. When I lived in New York my house had a water meter installed with the meter facing a wall 4" away. Had to be read with a mirror. They did that about twice in 17 years, estimating all the rest of the time. Estimates were pretty close to the final reading I took before leaving.
It seems like estimating would be perfectly fine but a friend of mine in a different neighborhood tried it once because hers was a long ways from her house. When she reported her estimate, the utility told her that she was wrong because they didn’t balance, which questions the necessity of monthly readings.
From this information page from a company that makes these:
How do smart water meters get power?
Smart water meters typically use batteries as their power source. However, some smart water meters can be connected to the electrical grid. Additionally, some smart water meters can be solar powered. The type of power source that a smart water meter uses depends on the specific model of smart water meter.
We live in a suburb that used to be considered a rural area. When we first moved there (over 35 years ago), we had to read our water meter every month and mail it in. It’s in the basement. 20+ years ago they put a meter on the outside of the house and it’s read remotely by a guy in a truck. The old meter is still in the basement. I’m kind of curious if it still works.
The house I lived in until about 2007 had a water meter and an electric meter in the basement. Every month, the utility company sent me a postcard, and I had to go down, read the meters, and mail back the card.
The water meter had a number to write down, but the electric meter was the analog kind, and I had to draw the position of the dials.
Mrs. Mixdenny was probably not going to confront Ms. Uzi, but what happened after the Feds left?