cant read water meter

mrs_baggins

I was concerned about my water bill so thought I would read it each week to see what I am using. The meter is on the pavement outside my house. I opened it up , got rid of the ants nest but was unable to read the dial as the glass was all scratched and was impossible to read. I shone a really bright torch on and me and my hubby were cleaning it with paper towels but still unable to read. I phoned severn trent who told me not to worry as their meter readers 'have special tools' for this situation. Does anyone know what these are? are they especially bright torches? Ha ha. Or when they read the meter do they actually open the top of it somehow? My main concern is that as they are unable to read it they will estimate it and based on last year this will be high.

deanos

Yes its a torch

Just get a small torch and place it against the dials, if it has condensation just tap it with a screwdriver , to clean it just get a empty fairy liquid bottle or similar and fill with clean water and squirt on the meter to clean the dial if its quite deep or stubborn dirt get a paintbrush and attatch it to a cane or similar to clean

If its too bad to read when the meter reader comes round they will request a new meter, once fitted they will take 2 readings and work out your usage from the figures to calculate your bill

mrs_baggins

thanks for that. have tried cleaning it but no good only thing i can think of is thats last years and this years ants nest and soil etc have somhow scratched the front dial. will try the fairy though just in case.

deanos

Im not sure what meters ST use, is it like the one on there website?

http://www.stwater.co.uk/server.php?show=ConMediaFile.1152

pom_2

Our meters are read by computer - the meter reader walks round with a little pda type thingummy and doesn't even open the hatch. Maybe that's what they meant?

mrs_baggins

deanos wrote:

Im not sure what meters ST use, is it like the one on there website?

Its similar but the one I have doesnt have that front cover to it . Its 16 years old and is about 12 " down under the cover.Perhaps as the other poster suggested they use some kind of remote thingy to read it

sadfurry

Mrs B, the meter I am having problems with is the same as yours, down a hole and with a found face. Today I was told that because they couldn't read it when they came to do the meter read, they were getting a company out to put a new face on to stop condensation or replacing it if unfixable. I'd have thought you should be able to get them to do that, as surely you should be able to read your own meter, and anyway they will have the same problem when they come to read it?

deanos

Have you tried tapping on the meter head to see if it clears the condensation , when you have done this holding a torch towards & right next to the dials can help as well

mrs_baggins

tried tapping it, cleaning it etc. I dont think its condensation but the glass where you read it is somehow scratched/unreadable. waiting to see what happens next time they read it as I cant read a single number on it now.

sadfurry

Mrs B, I have the same meter as you, and the bloke who came had no special tool, and he didn't even use a torch (he did use a big thing to suck the water surrounding the meter out, and condensation had disappeared!)

From what I have learned, I'd say don't wait for next reading, request it now to have the top changed as you can't read it.