Meet Your Meter (Older Version)
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 and determine what type of meter you have, you can easily check for a leak. On the Sensus meter, the small black triangle located above the numbers is the leak indicator. On the Invensys meter, the red pointer is what is referred to as the leak indicator. On the Sensus ICE meter, the red circle with black marker line is the leak indicator. In most instances, the leak indicators will move in a clockwise motion when water is being used.
When you are not running water, there should be no movement of the triangle or the pointer on your meter. If the indicator is turning, 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. If your meter has any decimal point or pre-printed zero, be sure to include that. 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 outside reading dial. The outside dial transmits only electronic code and does not display your reading.
How does the Authority read the meters?
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Electronic Meter reading dial
The vast majority of water meters are read electronically (touch-read), meaning the meter reader gets a digital readout from the meter reading dial, which is located on the outside of your property. Both your meter reading and your 8-digit meter identification number are transmitted to a handheld receiver. This eliminates the room for human error in reading.
A few of our customers are not able to have an exterior reading dial due to wiring difficulties. For those, we use a radio-read dial, which is installed on the interior of the property. Just as with the touch-read meters, both 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, by your meter reading.
To comply with regulations, we are taking part in a program of getting one meter reading from the water meter, rather than the outside 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.