How to Read Your Water Meter

MHOG Utilities reads your water meter every three months to determine your water use and water bill. You can also use this meter to:

• Monitor your water use
• Watch for water leaks

Locate your water meter in your basement or home's crawlspace. Most meters look like the one pictured to the right. This is a new meter and is currently reading 2.7 gallons.

Low Flow Indicator: This dial (Low Flow Indicator) will rotate when water passes through the meter. One full rotation of the dial equals 1 gallon of water. The Low Flow Indicator will rotate with
very little water movement. Any water moving through the meter is detected so even small leaks will register.

Odometer: The odometer records total water use in a similar way as the odometer in your car records miles driven. The water meter
odometer records water use in gallons and displays as follows:

The digits from right to left represent 1/10th of gallon, 1 gallon, 10 gallons, 100 gallons, 1000 gallons and so on. Like a car odometer,
the water meter odometer cannot be altered.

How to Monitor Your Water Use

The following steps will show you how to determine how much water you use over a
period of time.

1. Read the odometer and write it down completely. Then write down the date you read it. After a period of days (we suggest 7 days) read the odometer and write the read and the date read down.
2. Subtract your first read from the second. This is your water usage for the period. Example 0066013.9 - 0056013.9 = 10,000
3. The 10,000 figure indicates that 10,000 gallons of water have been used during the time period between the two reads. The average residential customer uses about 7,000 gallons per month.

How to use your water meter to help detect leaks

1. Make sure no water is being used inside or outside (no clothes washer filling, no shower running, no water outdoors, etc.)
2. Locate your water meter.
3. Find the low flow indicator (as shown in the above picture).
4. If all of your water sources are off and the low flow indicator is rotating, you may have a leak.

Leaks can waste thousands of gallons of water in just a few days. It pays to fix leaks promptly. A small leak, about the size of the head of a pin, dripping at one drop per second can add up to 7 gallons of water per day. A large leak, the kind most often found in toilets, can waste 200 gallons of water or more per day!

Check out the article on high water bills for further information. If you have any questions, just give us a call at 800-881-4109 or 810-227-5225.