Water meters measure water usage at residential and commercial sites, with rates based on readings. Different types of technology are used worldwide, with standards set by organizations like the American Water Works Association in the US. Water meters can transmit usage data to a central office for billing purposes.
A water meter is a device that is used to track or measure a consumer’s use of water supplies in a particular location. Utility companies use water meters at both commercial and residential customer sites and base rates on the results of the devices’ readings. Consumers also sometimes use the water meter as a means of monitoring their usage, with the goal of reducing waste of the resource. This is especially true when the local area is experiencing a drought situation and the stress placed on local water supplies has increased.
There are different types of water meter technology used around the world. The configurations used for commercial sites are sometimes different from the devices selected and installed at the residences. Some are designed to quickly monitor usage based on the flow of water through a connection between the municipal water system and the end user’s location based on the rate of that flow. Typically, this means controlling the rate of that flow so the programming for the meter can remain consistent and accurate.
In many countries, it is not uncommon for uniform standards to be established by a government agency or nationally recognized manufacturers’ association that agrees to use those standards. In the United States, the American Water Works Association is the body that sets standards for both residential and commercial water meter products. These standards are developed in compliance with governmental regulations that have to do with the use of natural resources within the nation and which allow the various water meters to also comply with the safety and performance standards found in local communities.
The actual design of the water meter will often depend on the type of customer that will be served by the device. With residential customers, many community water works and councils favor a simplistic design that meters water flow from the municipal water system into the residence. When you open a faucet, the meter registers the incoming water flow as a specific measurement. That measurement can then be converted into a cost using a usage table.
In the past, the typical pattern was for an employee known as a meter reader to physically visit each residence, record the month’s reading, reset the meter, and report the results for billing purposes. Some communities no longer conduct regular site visits, instead basing their water usage on an average of readings collected several times a year. Increasingly, water meter models that incorporate computer technology are used around the world to transmit usage data to a central office and download it into a billing database. This allows you to secure real-time billing data without the use of a large amount of manual work and also helps to increase the accuracy of the billing process.
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