How are water meters actually read?

mmmmikey

Sterlingtimes said:

mmmmikey said:

As well as the  electronic meters that are read by a meter reader with the correct kit, there are also smart water meters. I'm with Anglian water and my meter sends in hourly meter reads which I can see on the website and is useful for tracking and managing use. I also got an email from Anglian Water telling me I probably had a leak, and sure enough I did even though I hadn't noticed it - all made possible by the smart water meter.

I had a leak in the chamber that housed meter due to a cracked top and Anglian Water just fixed it at no cost to myself or any hassle.

I also have a smart meter with Severn Trent's My Smart Tracker. A small leak in the chamber at the customer side of the meter was detected during a physical inspection, rather than by the meter. Within the house, the tiniest leaks are detected by my Leak Bot, which utilises remote monitoring by the provider. The Smart Tracker would uncover large leaks, but it is not suitable for detecting drips and similar issues.

The Anglian Water system works by looking for water use when you don't usually have any and the meter and readings are very precise. So their computer saw a minimal amount of usage overnight from a dripping overflow and alerted me accordingly. Clever stuff :-)

QrizB

Sterlingtimes said:

 Within the house, the tiniest leaks are detected by my Leak Bot, which utilises remote monitoring by the provider.

I've got a LeakBot. I found it too sensitive and the hysterical notifications on my phone got so annoying that I moved it to a different pipe.

Now I'll know if the downstairs loo develops a leak but everything else isn't monitored and I get some peace & quiet

Sterlingtimes

QrizB said:

Sterlingtimes said:

 Within the house, the tiniest leaks are detected by my Leak Bot, which utilises remote monitoring by the provider.

I've got a LeakBot. I found it too sensitive and the hysterical notifications on my phone got so annoying that I moved it to a different pipe.

I have had the LeakBot for some years. I understand that they can be sensitive to the sometimes slow filling of the cold water tank in the loft. LeakBot changed my float valve twice. LeakBot was attempting to develop a hardware solution for replacing the float valve: I heard no more about that. I also heard that LeakBot could send data to the head office to find a software workaround. I moved my LeakBot to the software side of my water softener. The LeakBot last detected a minute leak at the base of a tap in my cloakroom. It has been running now without issue for the last two years. The equipment and service have been fantastic for me.

DorkingChicken

British water companies use Automatic Meter Readings (AMR) to avoid digging through the mud/water on each individual meter.

Water meters transmit their current reading over short distances connecting to a van that drives down a local road collecting all the meter readings at the same time.

Sterlingtimes

DorkingChicken said:

British water companies use Automatic Meter Readings (AMR) to avoid digging through the mud/water on each individual meter.

Water meters transmit their current reading over short distances connecting to a van that drives down a local road collecting all the meter readings at the same time.

That is the old-style meter that provides meter readings only, but smart water meters do not require a van. Instead, data is transmitted near real-time to a gateway accessed by radio. Usage is presented in terms of litres per hour 24/7.

matelodave

Ours gets read by a bloke pulling up the cover in our front garden and squinting down the hole (Anglian Water in deepest Cambridgeshire)

griffb

Our meter is in the kitchen (so any leaks under the house or garden won't affect it). It is attached by a wire to a small round black gizmo on the outside wall. No idea how it is powered;  the meter reader seems to use another small gizmo to get a reading.

When we reported a leak at the external stopcock (on our property) a chap was round within half an hour to assess, and the work was done a few days later foc (they even chucked a load of grass seed down!). Cambridge Water.