Meet Your Meter
If you live in a house or apartment building, your water meter most likely will be in the basement. For mobile homes, meters may be either inside the home (sometimes in a closet, sometimes by the water heater) or may be outside in a pit in the ground. The location of your water meter was determined by the original owner of the property, not by the Municipal Authority.
After you find your meter, you can easily check for a leak. On the new Sensus meter, the current reading is displayed once the lid is opened. When you are not running water, there should be no movement of the current reading on your meter. If the meter reading continues to increase, chances are you may have a leak.
What do I do if I believe I have a water leak?
Make sure no other water source, like a hose dripping nearby or your sprinkler system, is running. Also check around your hot water tank. If yours is a commercial account and you have an ice machine, check there.
You can find detailed information on finding and fixing leaks, as well as water conservation information, by clicking the appropriate links.
How do I read my meter?
Your water meter reads exactly like a car odometer. Read all the numbers from left to right. Your meter has decimal points – be sure to include them. When you have two readings, subtract the numbers and the result is your usage in gallons.
Meter readings can be obtained only from the water meter – not the reading dial. The dial transmits only electronic code and does not display your reading.
How does the Authority read the meters?
All new meters are now being equipped with a radio-read dial, which is installed on the interior of the property or placed on the exterior over the existing touch-read dial. With the radio-read meters, only your meter reading and your 8-digit meter identification number are transmitted to our receiver as we drive by your property.
The meter and dial are connected by a wire, which enables the transmission of your meter reading and ID number.
We read your meter about the same time each month, and very rarely estimate a reading. If your reading has been estimated, it will be noted on your bill, beside the reading’s numbers.
To comply with regulations, we are taking part in a program of getting one meter reading from the water meter, rather than the reading dial. Once we obtain one inside reading from all our customers, we start the process over again; so inside readings are a rare but ongoing process. Employees who request access to read your meter carry photo identification cards. Feel free to call our office at (814) 765-9609 if you would like further confirmation that the person at your door is an Authority employee.
How to obtain your current usage
The dates the meter was read, along with the current and last reading, are listed on your water bill. Subtract the visual number you obtain from the meter from what is listed on the water bill to find out what your water usage is since the last reading.