How to Read Your Water Meter
How to Read your water meter:
1. Locate the water meter box (usually located near the sidewalk) and remove meter box cover.
2. Open the black cover on the meter register to expose the solar panel (or light sensor depending on your meter version) to sunlight. If it is dark outside, shine a flashlight on it. Bright light will wake up the display.
3. When the LCD display is activated, it will alternate between “Reading” and “Rate.”
4. The Reading is total amount of cubic feet of water that has passed through the meter.
5. The Rate is any water that is passing/has passed through the meter recently.
6. If all water is shut off the Rate should be zero. If the meter shows a Rate when the water is shut off, then it indicates a possible leak in your system.
If you read the numbers on your meter and, for instance, they read 34687 cu.\ft. and the next month you read the meter and it now says 34959 cu.\ft., then you have used 272 cu.\ft. of water. (34959 minus 34687 = 272 cu. ft.)
FYI - to convert to gallons, multiply the cubic feet by 7.48 (example - 100 cubic feet of water equals 748 gallons of water!
Should you have an older meter that does not have a flow indicator, read the meter, noting the exact numbers, make sure no water is being used elsewhere in your house or business, and check the meter again one hour (or more) later. If there has been usage, determined by a higher reading, then you may have a break or leak somewhere in the line or that something is still using water.
Please, do not cut or pull on any wires you find in a meter box. You can damage the meter electronic reading (the meter will still record usage however) and you may be charged for repairs.
LEAKS:
In case of a leak in a customer's service line, please make repairs and then call the Finance Department at (503) 982-5222. Finance will notify Water Operations after the leak is repaired. If you have any invoices from a repair tech please provide those to the Finance Dept. some times this can speed up the adjustment process. The Water Operations department will send some one out to check your meter to verify that the leak was fully repaired. Once we have confirmation on our end then we will see if you qualify for a leak adjustment. The whole process can take between 1-2 billing cycles . If you need to set up a payment arrangement while your adjustment is being processed please contact the Finance Department. To reach them please call (503)982-5222 option 1 then option 2 in the menus.
If a leak in the City’s main line is observed, please call the City to report the location as soon as possible, or call the Police Department at (503) 982-2340 during non-work hours. (Unless the leak is a major one, please do not call 911.)
