How to Read the Water Meter

We encourage our customers to read their water meters regularly. Your water meter is read monthly, and your consumption is determined by subtracting the previous month’s reading from the current month’s reading. Water meters are highly accurate and dependable for water consumption evaluation.

You will notice that your residential water meter has only one dial. The dial has a sweep hand which measures water usage in gallons. The meter operates like the odometer in your car. Since the odometer registers in hundreds of gallons you do not record the last two numbers. (The last number is a permanent number and the next dial registers tenths.) The remaining dials register the actual (hundreds and thousands) water used.
Calculating Your Bill
From the reading, we then calculate in the thousands. For example, if the water meter shows a reading of 3,859, the bill would be calculated from 3,000 gallons. The hundreds would carry over to the next month. Subtract the previous reading from the new reading and you will know how many thousands of gallons of water you have used. (ie. 5,000 (current month read) - 2,000 (previous month read) = 3,000 gallons.
Water Meter Diagram Showing How to Read a Meter