What's In My Pit?

An Explanation of our new water meters.

In December 2019 Franklin County Rural Water District #1 began replacing all of the water meters in our system.  The old meters had run their life and warranty expectancy and were in need of a change out.  We decided to upgrade our system in multiple ways while updating meters.  A newer technology was selected that uses ultrasonic signals to measure water flow instead of a rotating propeller system.  The benefits are that there are no moving parts to wear out in the solid-state system and the new meters are more accurate.  Along with the increased accuracy, these meters are smarter.  They tell us the temperature (degrees Fahrenheit) of the meter pit as well as a digitized flow total and flow rate down to 0.10 gallons per minute (gpm).  How slow is 0.10 gpm?  At a tenth of a gpm it would take one minute and 15 seconds to fill a 16 ounce drinking glass.  

The last techy upgrade that these meters bring to our district is their ability to be switched to a remote reporting system.  We currently collect meter readings by driving throughout the district monthly.  The future will bring a network system throughout our district that will enable every meter to report its temperature, flow total and alarm if a leak is suspected at a residence on a continuous basis.  This will aid in our efforts to report possible leaks and freeze warnings to customers before there is a serious issue.

With the change in meters, this report is also meant to aid in your ability to read and understand your meter once it is upgraded.