Water Meter Moving

6/10/2019 (Permalink)

Typical water meter face

Water bills high?

Water where there shouldn't be and can't find out where it comes from? 

A good way to tell if you have a pipe leak in your home/building is by checking the water meter.

The water meter is usually out near the property line or street/alley.

After lifting the lid on the meter a meter face with dials/numbers should be visible.  If it is not you may need to wipe it off or gently dig a bit to find it.

The meter face generally has a wheel of some sort, such as the asterisk one shown in the picture, which moves if any water is moving through the pipe.  Generally, the more water going through it the faster it spins.

Be sure anything in the house/building which uses water is off and see if the wheel is moving.  Sometimes the movement can be very, very slow.

The face of the meter usually has a line at the top or bottom behind the wheel so you can tell if the wheel is moving slowly.

If the wheel is not moving, there is no leak in the water pipes.  The meter does not measure water in drains of from devices such as air conditioning units.

If the wheel is moving with everything shut off, there is a leak on the property/in the building somewhere.  One may well need a plumber at that point