How do I read this meter?

[justinramani]

I have a leak in the water line leading to our house. The flow rate is showing .09 GPM with everything shut off at the house. The numbers at the top are Gallons x100. So is the current reading 28,856 or 28,715??? House is still under construction, so we are leaking a lot of water.... The builder has fixed two other leaks in the line, but I found another one today. Line is 2in PVC run about 1400 feet.

 

[speedbump]

What does the 156 signify? My guess the actual reading is 28,700 gallons.

 

[justinramani]

I thought that the 156 reading was counting down to the gallon. Once it reached 999 I figured that the top number would tick to 288....

 

[bcp]

Found this:



Bruce

 

[justinramani]

Thanks Bruce. So do you think the 156 is representing fractions of a gallon?

 

[bcp]

I "think" those are the numbers to the right of the decimal point.

287.156 hundred gallons, or 26715.6 gallons

Bruce

PS: 26715.6 should be 28715.6

 

[CalG]

I "think" those are the numbers to the right of the decimal point.

287.156 hundred gallons, or 26715.6 gallons

Bruce

Watch the meter for a few minutes and see if the decimal reading matches the flow rate.

A gallon a minute is pretty easy to follow. Those numbers could be in units of 1000 for all one can tell.

 

[EddieWalker]

I've had water meter issues before and I found that the very best information came from going to the Water Department and talking to the guy in charge. It's amazing how guys who work there, and different plumbers, all had different answers. Sadly in my case, the wrong type of pipe was installed 20 years before, and I had to install a new line. 1,200 feet of it!!! There where so many little leaks on it that there was no way to find and fix every one. It was glued together schedule 40 going down a hill. The drop in elevation created more water pressure, and the length of the run stretched the pipe to the point of tiny little pin holes it's entire length.

I forget the distance, but there is a point where you have to use slip jointed pipe. It slides in and out of itself as the ground freezes and thaws. This movement in the ground is what breaks water lines. The longer the line, the greater the movement the pipe experiences. My current house is 800 feet from the main water line. It is all gasketed because of the distance and my soil type.

 

[GLyford]

I thought one way around the flex issue was to put in either zig-zags or doglegs every so often? Of course, that's not to say that by the time you've run the extra pipe and labor you wouldn't be ahead anyway to use the right pipe...

 

[justinramani]

The builder thinks that there is too much pressure at the main. He had the plumber install a pressure reducing valve. I guess we will need to wait and see if that makes any difference.