How to Read Your New Meter
Your water meter can tell you a lot of useful information. You can use your meter to
monitor your water use and to check for leaks. It’s a good idea to check around your
property for any cracked pipes and leaky sprinklers.
100 Cubic Feet = 1 Unit
1 Cubic Foot = 7.48 Gallons
Your Base Rate includes 30 Units
per month.
First locate your water meter, which should be in the front yard, either in the grass or
side walk. The lid will say WATER on it and it will have a notch where you can insert a
long screw driver to pop the lid up. Be careful when removing and replacing the lid, you
don’t want to drop the lid on your foot or on the top of the meter! The top of your meter
will look like the photo (if installed in 2015-2017).
Your meter is very sensitive it measures to the nearest hundredth of a cubic foot. Each
cubic foot is equal to 7.48 gallons. In the City of Merced, your base water rate includes
30 HCF (Hundred Cubic Feet) equal to 22,400 gallons of water per month. If you use
more than 30 HCF it will cause your water bill to increase. Each unit over 30 HCF cost
$0.87 per HCF (748 gallons or fraction of that).
The little blue dial is a low flow indicator and will move even when you have a small
leak. If all water inside and outside of your house is turned off completely, your meter
should be perfectly still; unless you have a leak.
The water odometer, records water use like a car odometer will record miles. The
odometer records water use in cubic feet. The digits from the right represent 0.01 cubic
foot, 0.10 cubic foot, 1 cubic foot, 10 cubic feet, and 100 cubic feet respectfully. You
can tell how much water is being used if you write down your meter odometer’s full
number, then come back the next week or month later and record that number.
Subtract the first number recorded from the most recent and that will tell you how many
cubic feet have been used during that time frame. You can convert it to gallons by
multiplying that number by 7.48; then you will know how many gallons that you used
during that time frame. You can divide that number by the amount of days in between
your recordings to find out an average of how many gallons per day you are using.
And if you find that you have a leak, fix it right away. Leaking pipes are like money
down the drain and simply a waste of our precious resource.
If you are on a flat rate and have a pool, the flat rate charge of $7.80 will stop once you
get a water meter because you only pay for the water used.
For more information on how to read your water meter, you can contact the Public
Works department at 385-6800.
Leah Brown
Water Conservation Specialist