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How to Read Your Water Meter

There are several reasons why you'd want to be able to locate and read your water meter. First, you might be interested in just how much water you use in a day. By reading your meter at the beginning and the end of the day you can compare the two totals tell how much water you and your family used. The second reason is to check for leaks. If you turn off all the taps in your house, look at your meter and it is still turning, chances are you have a leak somewhere. Here are some hints to help you find and read your water meter:
 
STEP 1: Locate Your Meter
Your water meter is generally located  in your homes basement.
 

STEP 2: Read Your Water Meter
All customers within the Borough of Monaca have their water use measured by a meter. This results in each customer paying their share of operating the system based upon the amount of water used.

All Borough of Monaca meters measure water in cubic feet (one cubic foot equals about 7.5 gallons). Charges for the amount of water consumed are based on the number of units of 100 cubic feet (748.5 gallons) you use during a billing period.

There are two basic types of water meters -- the straight-reading meter which resembles the an odometer in a car, and the round-reading meter which has several separate dials.

How to Read Your Meter
In the meter at the right, the reading is taken from the figures shown under the words CUBIC FEET. The meter reads 81,710, which is the total number of cubic feet of water recorded since the meter was installed. Because our charge is based on units of 100 cubic feet, the meter reader discards the last two numbers (the ones with the black background). So, this reading would actually be 817.

So, if by the time the we read your bills the next time you had used 1,200 cubic feet of water, the new reading would be 82,910 (81,710 plus 1,200). Again, we'd drop the last two numbers and your official reading would be 829. Your bill would be figured by subtracting the old number (817) from the new number (829). You would then be billed for 12 units.

It's important to note that the large sweep hand is used only for testing purposes.