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 Water Meter
Information
 Master Meters – The water sold wholesale to the water associations which
provide service to outlying areas of Saline County is measured by a master
meter. These are read monthly by personnel from our department and a
representative from Water Users, LLC the office for all of these
associations while we maintain all readings for the master meter at the City
of Bauxite.
Types of Water Meters & How to read your Water Meter
There are several reasons why you'd want to be able to locate and read your
water meter. First, you might be interested in just how much water you use
in a day. By reading your meter at the beginning and the end of the day you
can compare the two totals to tell how much water you and your family used.
The second reason is to check for leaks. If you turn off all the taps in
your house, look at your meter and it is still turning, chances are you have
a leak somewhere. Here are some hints to help you find and read your water
meter:
STEP 1: Locate Your Meter
Your water meter is generally located near the curb in front of your home or
place of business in a direct line with the main outside faucet. It is
housed in a concrete or black plastic box. Carefully remove the lid by using
a tool such as a large screwdriver. Please, do not use your fingers. Insert
the tool into one of the holes and pry the lid off. Visually examine the
area around the meter to make sure there are no harmful insects or other
animals.
STEP 2: Read Your Water Meter
All customers within the Benton Water Dept. coverage area have their water
use measured by a meter. These results in each customer paying their share
of operating the system based upon the amount of water used.
There are two basic types of water meters -- the straight-reading meter
which resembles an odometer in a car, and the round-reading meter which has
several separate dials.
STEP 3: How to Read Your Meter
Benton Water uses several brands of water meters. All have a meter register
that looks very much like the odometer in your car, and have six or seven
digits to read. The meter readings are read in thousands of gallons. The
billing system is programmed to take these meter readings and calculate the
correct water usage in thousands of gallons.
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Dial Read Meter – This is one of the oldest types of meters in our system.
The reading on your bill is derived from reading the digits one at a time
from the one million down to the tens, rounding all numbers down to the
lower number in the sequence. Your reading on your bill will only reflect
the first four digits of this reading. This meter reads 615 or 615,386
gallons of water. |
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Badger Meter – This is one of the older type meters in our system. The
reading on your bill is derived from reading the first four digits that are
black in the odometer style reading device, your meters are read in
thousands of gallons. This meter reads 2,955 or 2,955,000 gallons of water. |
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Sensus Meter - This is one type of meter in our system. The reading on your
bill is derived from reading the first four digits that are black in the
odometer style reading device, your meters are read in thousands of gallons.
This meter reads 4,567 or 4,567,000 gallons of water. The red hand is a leak
detector, so if everything is off including things like icemakers and it is
moving, you have a leak on your side of the meter. |
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Sensus Meter - This is the newest type of meter in our system. The reading
on your bill is derived from reading the first four digits from the left in
the odometer style reading device, your meters are read in thousands of
gallons. This meter reads 0 or 2.7 gallons of water. The red dial is a leak
detector, so if everything is off including things like icemakers and it is
moving, you have a leak on your side of the meter. This meter is fitted with
a electronic reading device which transmits readings to a computer in a
truck at meter reading time. |
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