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EWEB water meters measures how much water you use for everyday tasks or for keeping your garden green and flowers blooming. Once you know how to read a water meter, you can do a meter test to detect leaks.
How to read an EWEB water meter
Learning how to read an EWEB water meter can be a useful tool in helping you find out if you have household leaks. It can also help you track water use from activities such as automatic irrigation systems.
But first you have to know where it is and how to read it.
Residential water meters are usually located in the front yard in a small meter box below the ground usually near the street. The rectangular lid will have a hole in it where the lid can be lifted off using a long screwdriver or meter box key sold at most hardware stores.
If you have a smart water meter:
We are currently installing smart water meters throughout the city. These meters function the same way as traditional meters but they have a digital face and a wire attaching to an antenna on the meter box lid. This allows them to be read remotely.
Be careful when you remove the meter box lid. If you have a smart meter, you don't want to pull any wires loose.
EWEB bills water use in thousands of gallons and the meter is read from left to right as if you're reading your car's odometer. For example, the smart meter pictured below shows a reading of 16,459 gallons, so this customer would be billed for 16 kgal.
If you have a legacy water meter that measures gallons:
Most water meters look like a speedometer or odometer in your car. Water meters in Eugene usually measure in gallons. Look on the dial to see the unit of measure.
The pointer of a gallons meter turns completely around the dial for every 10 gallons that flows through the meter. When the pointer is between numbers, read the lower number.
The counter on the meter displays the number of times the pointer has revolved. So the counter shows the first numbers in the reading. Read the numbers on the counter from left to right.
There is a painted zero at the end of the counter that is a placeholder for the number shown by the pointer. For instance, Example 1 reads 679,089.4 gallons.
If you have a legacy water meter that measures cubic feet:
Some older meters measure water in cubic feet. Look on the dial to see the unit of measure.
The pointer of a cubic foot meter turns completely around the dial for every 7.5 gallons that flows through the meter. When the pointer is between numbers, read the lower number.
The counter on the meter displays the number of times the pointer has revolved. So the counter shows the first numbers in the reading. Read the numbers on the counter from left to right.
The pointer shows the last number in the reading. For instance, Example 2 reads 5,635.2 cubic feet.Multiply by 7.5 gallons to convert a cubic foot meter reading to gallons.
The calculation to convert the Example 2 reading to gallons is: 5,635.2 cubic feet x 7.5 gallons = 4,224 gallons
Meter reading worksheet
You can use the printable meter reading worksheet to compare daily or weekly readings.
Now that you know how to read a meter, you can also check on your consumption during the month by comparing the current reading to the reading listed on your last bill.
If the reading on the meter tells you you're using more than you'd like, we have resources to help.
