Replaced 2" Meter with 1" Meter

[2Biz]

Our 4 bay has a 2" water supply line that was metered in the E.R. with a 2" meter. At one time our wash had an automatic that required the 2" supply and meter. Although the auto was taken out years ago, they kept the 2" meter in place. With that setup, we were charged for 22K gallons of water and sewage monthly whether we used it or not. We also had to read the meter every month and give the reading to the utilities dept.

Recently the utilities dept. contacted me and told me they were going to replace my meter with one that could be read remotely. I suggested instead of replacing with a 2" meter that they put me in a 1" meter. I had contacted them over a year ago to see if this could be done but was told it couldn't?!?!? But now since it was their idea, its was ok! Even though I had to pay for the installation and new meter, it was pretty much a no brainer since the ROI was 4 months. Making this change will instantly save me about 50% average on my water and sewer bill.

 

[pitzerwm]

They want to put in a remote reading meter to save then thousands of dollars and you have to pay for it. What crap.

 

[soapy]

I tell everyone who gets a new meter to have it certified before it is put in. I had a brand new put in by the city once that read 3X as much water as was actually being used. Not uncommon. I understand that older meters tend to under read the actual water used because of wear on the rotating veins in the meter. If your new meter has a visible dial try filling a 55 gallon barrell with nothing else running to confirm that the meter is close.

 

[2Biz]

The reason they wanted to put in the remote display was because they had a customer who had a big doberman and the meter reader wouldn't read his meter. So they allowed this guy to call his reading in. He ended up dying and when they took his final reading he was like $10k in arrears. Shame on the utility dept for allowing this. My situation was a little different.

I agree, I shouldn't have had to pay anything, but it wasn't outrageous to get my way. After all this will save me over a grand a year and cost me just over $400.00....

BTW...I did test the meter, only I filled a 5 gallon bucket. It was right on...Thanks for the heads up though. I'm keeping a log for awhile to compare to my old readings just to make sure. But I was wondering about my old meter underreading? A chance I took to save over a hundred bucks a month, though...

 

[captain cw]

My water company just raised my rates by 50%. Even with reclaim, I'm still paying a crazy amount. I'd do anything to cut that bill.

 

[2Biz]

At the beginning of the year they raised my water and sewage rates by 15%. Even though I was able to get it cut by 50% by changing out the meter, they will eventually get it back and then some. I'm running out of money saving ideas!

 

[Earl Weiss]

How does a smaller meter affect the amount of water you use?

 

[mac]

2Biz, you should also ask them for a partial refund on the impact fee that was charged for the 2" meter. It is usually substantially higher. Find out the fee for both the 1" and 2" and ask for the difference back.

 

[MEP001]

How does a smaller meter affect the amount of water you use?

He was being charged for a minimum of 22k gallons of water a month with the 2" meter even if he didn't use it all; he won't with the 1". It doesn't affect the actual use of water though.

 

[2Biz]

Base rate for the 2" meter was 22,000 gallons a month. I was charged for this amount of water and sewage whether I used it or not. Just like our resedential water as it is metered with a 3/4" meter. Residential Base rate is 2,000 gallons...The 1" meter base rate is 6,500 gallons and 60% less $$$ than the 2" base rate. A 1" supply and meter will give you about 35gpm flow @ 40psi...Plenty for a 4 bay SS.

If I use 10K gallons of water, I'm charged the base rate (6,500 gal) + $4.00 per 1,000 gallons over that....Same for sewage...

I always use over 6,500 gallons but have never hit 22,000 gallons. Even in the winter with weep.

I have gone to the utilities to ask for a re-evaluation, but was quickly denied. And they wouldn't put me in a smaller meter untill it was their idea and I paid for it....You guys surely know the song and dance!

 

[GoBuckeyes]

I tell everyone who gets a new meter to have it certified before it is put in. I had a brand new put in by the city once that read 3X as much water as was actually being used. Not uncommon. I understand that older meters tend to under read the actual water used because of wear on the rotating veins in the meter. If your new meter has a visible dial try filling a 55 gallon barrell with nothing else running to confirm that the meter is close.

Soapy, this is so true. I had a one inch meter fail and the city put in a new one. My latest water bill just arrived and it in fact seemed kinda high considering how business has been compared to the same time frame last year. I took a meter read, filled a storage tank with exactly 135 gallons which should have bumped the meter up by 18 cu ft., however, the meter recorded 19.2 cu ft. When you apply a 7.2% inaccuracy to water, sewer and local charges, you're talking about serious money over a course of a year.

I called the water department to have an investigation opened, but they told me to call back in a month as they weren't scheduling any investigations at this time. The reason they gave me was that they're in the process of switching out ALL meters to a new kind that will be read by satelite every minute; no more meter readers. I'm sure this will go smoothly.

 

[rph9168]

In Atlanta they switched a number of residential water meters about two years ago to the ones that could be read remotely. It was a real disaster mainly because of faulty readings. They are still trying to "fix" the system. Good luck but I would stay on top of them. They have a tendency to ignore issues like this since it is in their favor to have inaccurate readings like this.

 

[2Biz]

Thought I would post a follow up since I got my first utility bill with the new meter in place. The change saved over 30% on the utility bill and dropped the utilities (single phase, 3 phase, water, and sewage) to 5.8% of (Mays) gross income...

Its nice to see some positive numbers!

Now to work on the Bank to get Interest Rates down!!!!