If you receive a monthly water bill for your private home, it means that your water consumption is monitored by a meter. The water meter is a very simple device, placed on the main water pipe of the house, which measures the volume of water that flows daily in the pipes. Usually a council employee comes by to read the meter numbers, but you can too. Learn how to do it: it is a very simple procedure that will allow you to keep your water consumption under control.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Read the Counter
Step 1. Locate the water meter
If you live in a single house in a small town, the water meter is probably on the front of the house, facing the street. The meter can be placed in a concrete box and marked "Water". If you live in an apartment or condominium, the meter will likely be housed in a single room, often in a ground floor or basement storage room, or outside the building. If the water bill were included in the cost of the rent or in the condominium expenses, it would mean that the entire building is served by a single meter.
Step 2. If the meter has a lid, remove it
If the counter is placed in a concrete box, the lid should have a series of small holes in the top. Insert a screwdriver into one of the holes and pry up the lid, just enough to get your fingers under the rim. Lift the lid and set it aside.
Step 3. If the watch face has a protective cap, lift it up
Some counters have a heavy metal protective cap to prevent the dial from being damaged. Lift the cap on its hinge to expose the dial.
Step 4. Measure your home's water consumption
On the front of the meter you will see a large dial with a series of numbers: these numbers indicate the amount of water consumed in your home since the last time the meter was reset.
- The units of measurement used are specified on the dial; the most common units are gallons or cubic feet in the United States and liters or cubic meters in much of the rest of the world.
- The odometer (comparable to your car's odometer) indicates the total amount of water consumed in your home since it was installed. It does not reset every month or after each billing, but by recording the values it reports you can only monitor the level of monthly consumption. The last two numbers on the odometer are usually white on a black background, while the others are black on a white background. The last two numbers indicate single whole units (gallons, liters, cubic feet, or cubic meters) and tens of units (they are not decimals, as some claim).
- The large rotating dial indicates the partial quantities that have been consumed. Each number on the dial represents one tenth of a unit, while the notches between the numbers indicate hundredths of a unit.
- There should also be a small triangular gear or dial on the meter - this is the flow indicator. If you suspect that there is a water leak somewhere between the meter and the interior of your home, turn off the main water switch and check this indicator. If it keeps spinning, it means that the water continues to drain (albeit very slowly).
Part 2 of 2: Calculate your Water Consumption
Step 1. Determine the amount of water consumed in your home
To calculate consumption, write down the current meter reading in a notebook, let a certain amount of time pass (a whole day or a week, for example) and then write down the reading again. Calculate the difference between the first and second reading and you will get the amount of water you consumed in that time frame. However, the results of your calculations may not coincide with the bills sent by the municipality: remember that the municipality does not always take meter readings at regular intervals.
Step 2. Calculate the cost of the water you use
To find out how much your water consumption costs, you need to know how your bill is billed. Reading the last bill, you will find the unit used for billing - it is typically larger than the unit of measurement and can be 100 gallons, 100 liters or 100 cubic feet. On your bill, you will find the unit billing rate, i.e. the price paid per billing unit consumed. Convert your total water consumption to the billing unit, then multiply by the billing rate and you will get the total cost of the water you used.
Step 3. Consider modifying your water consumption
Do you use more of them than you should? There are many ways to reduce water consumption, for example by doing one large load in the washing machine rather than many small loads, or by taking shorter showers. For other ways to reduce water consumption read here.
