September 14, 2025

Reading my water meter

This is out near the curb on the property line between my house and the one to the north.

It is a digital gadget, read only, with 4 display screens. The first one displays for about 10 seconds and looks like this: 

151268.786
^^^^
What I show above with ^^ indicates the first 4 digits that it puts bars above and below. Taking these digits gives in this case 1512 which is the reading in 100 cf units -- and this is what the water utility cares about.

The raw reading of 151268.786 is the reading in cfm units down to 1/100 cf. Given that 1.0 cf is 7.48 gallons, this gives a resolution of 0.0748 gallons or about 1.2 cups per 1/100 cf.

As mentioned, there are 4 displays. The long detailed one just described. Another shorter one which reads just in cf units (151268 for the case shown). Then you get the model number "6 52 P", upside down apparently, then finally a flow rate in gallons per minute, it currently shows 0.00.

Ccf versus Cf

There is some tradition of using Ccf units to do water billing. 
1.0 Ccf  = 100 Cf
Ccf stands for Centum cubic feet. Consider my above meter reading of 151268.786, from this the water company extracts "1512" CCF and uses that in billing. The don't worry about fractions as it all works out over the long term.

Check for a leak

I am worried about a puddle that has appeared in my front yard. I take 2 readings an hour apart, including one toilet flush in the period. I do this Sunday 9-14-2025 at 6:00 PM and I get: 
151268.561
151268.786
The difference is 0.225 cf, which is 1.68 gallons -- which is believable for one toilet flush. This along with the rate reading of 0.00 tells me that I don't have a leak, but where did that water come from?

I check again a week later on Sunday 9-21-2025 at 11:45 AM -- 

151347.115
The meter still shows a flow of 0.00 gallons.
This shows that I have used 70 cf over the week.

Another week later on Tuesday 9-30-2025 at 6:30 PM -- 

151472.577
The meter still shows a flow of 0.00 gallons.
Over 9 days, I have used 125 cf, no big deal

I locate my latest water bill (for 8/11 to 9/10/2025). It shows meter readings of 1508 to 1511, so I used 3 Ccf, where 1 Ccf is 748 gallons. The bill of course is confusing.

The rate per Ccf may increase at higher usage levels, but at this level I pay: 

$2.76 per Ccf for volume
$1.25 per Ccf for "supply"
$0.15 per Ccf for "conservation fee"
So $4.16 per Ccf. This is $12.48. Add a $22.87 monthly service charge and we have the basic water charge of $35.35
Add fees, taxes and such bring the bill up to the $39.49 I paid.

This past week I have seen 70 cf used. This is 0.70 Ccf, and if we multiply this by 4 for a month, this would be 2.8 Ccf. This is pretty much the same as the 3.0 Ccf from last month

Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Home repair pages / tom@mmto.org