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What You Need to Know About Your Water Meter
It’s shocking, but true — data from the Environmental Protection Agency confirms that 10 percent of American homes have leaks that gulp over 90 gallons of water every day. An average household features leaks that waste over 10,000 gallons of water a year, the same amount of water needed to wash a whopping 270 loads of laundry.
Some water leaks announce themselves like a rowdy, destructive, and definitely unwanted guest would, but many quietly waste water (and bump up your bill). Your water meter is perhaps the most powerful tool at your disposal if you want to know whether you have a leak.
What do you need to know about your water meter?
Where Is Your Water Meter Located?
Nearly all homes have a water meter. Water meters are the property of local water companies. In many cases, your water meter will be outside, within a box, situation right outside your home or at the end of a pathway. Water meters can also be placed within homes. In this case, they will typically be found attached to the pipe nearest to your stop tap. Your water meter may also be installed under your sink.
Using Your Water Meter to Detect Leaks
Much like your electricity meter, your home’s water meter measures how much water you use in real time. By looking at the meter’s low-flow indicator (marked by a triangle or a star), you can see whether any water is being used in your home.
While it is completely normal for your water meter to move while people go about their normal daily activities within the home (and even, for that matter, if appliances like water heaters and ice makers are active), you can conduct an informal test for leaks by turning off all appliances that use water. After doing so, you can:
- Observe the low-flow indicator in real time.
- To get a better idea of water usage over time, turn your water off for at least a few hours (such as while you are at work, when you won’t need water). Note down the numbers on your meter, and again when you return to the meter.
Both steps allow you to identify a leak, and the second step helps you identify just how much water the leak is wasting.
You can then use the shut-off valves on your fixtures and appliances to test whether each potential source of the leak is the culprit. Keep in mind that large appliances and fixtures such as toilets and washing machines waste more water than smaller ones, such as faucets.
Think You Have a Leak?
Water leaks can be hard to detect and diagnose. Your water bill and the readings on your water meter offer important clues if you cannot see any physical signs of a leak, but you may still not know where the problem lies. Water leaks are not only costly, but can also severely damage your property. By contacting a reputable and experience professional leak detection company, you’ll know where your leak is in no time. You’ll then be able to take the right steps to fix the problem, and begin saving money.