[About Your
Water Meter] [To Verify Your
Billing] In-Home Water Audit "How Could We Possibly Use All That Water?!" "Where Does The Water Go?" Do you think your water usage is unreasonably high? Are you amazed each time you receive your water bill to find out the amount of water that has gone through your meter into your plumbing system? Do you feel sure the meter is wrong or was read wrong? This in-home water audit is designed to help customers better understand their in-home water use habits. To effectively manage your water use, you'll need to determine where the water is being used and how much is being used. With a little time and a few simple calculations, you may find the answer to the "where" and "how much."  Locate your water meter: The water meter measures the amount of water that enters your plumbing system. It usually can be found in the front yard under the cover of your meter box. The top of the meter has a little door you can lift. Under the door is the meter dial. The meter measures water in gallons. Reading your water meter: Water meters are much like the odometer on your car. The sweep hand measures each gallon of water, up to 10 gallons. Notice the first number on the right is a stationary zero; there's no need for it to move because the sweep hand does its work. The main purpose for the sweep hand is testing. Except for the stationary zero, the rest of the number is read like the odometer. Water & Wastewater Services reads your meter every month. We are unable to read it on the same day every month due to different lengths of months, holidays, etc., but we do read it every 28 to 32 days. The actual date that your meter is read will appear on your bill. The increase in the reading from the previous month's reading is your "consumption" for the month and is the basis for your bill. It's very easy to verify the accuracy of your bill by checking the reading on your meter every month and subtracting the previous month's reading. The result of your calculation should be the same as the amount of consumption on your bill. Note the illustration above. The meter on the right shows the reading during the month of May. This reading is 1,000 gallons. The meter on the left shows the same meter in June, one month later. Now the meter reading is 11,000 gallons. If you subtract the May reading of 1,000 gallons from the June reading of 11,000 gallons you will find that this customer will be billed for a consumption of 10,000 gallons. Toilet Number of flushes daily
...........................................___________ Total gallons per day ...............................................___________x 30 = ________ total/mo. Shower Number of showers per day ......................................___________ Total gallons per day ................................................___________x 30 = ________ total/mo. Tub Bath Number of baths per day ..........................................___________ Total gallons per day ................................................___________x 30 = ________ total/mo. Open Kitchen/Lavatory Faucets Minutes faucets are open ..........................................___________ Total gallons per day ...............................................___________x 30 = ________ total/mo. Dishwasher Number of loads per day .........................................___________
Total gallons per day ..............................................___________x 30 = ________ total/mo. Automatic Clothes Washer Number of loads per day ........................................___________
Total gallons per day ..............................................___________x 30 = ________ total/mo. Washing Car Minutes water runs .................................................___________
Washing Driveway/Patio Sidewalk Minutes water runs .................................................___________
How Do You Compare? The water usage chart is a helpful tool to determine how you compare to the "average" home. Keep in mind the actual home will vary from the "average." An Example of Household Water
Usage
To check for a fast water leak, turn off all water faucets in and around your home. Watch the sweep hand for a few minutes, if it remains stationary there is no water flowing through the meter, hence no leaks. To detect slow leaks, note the position of the sweep hand. Wait a least 15 minutes and check the position of the sweep hand again. This time, the delay check will help you to detect a slow leak.
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