Flowie or Flowie-O and Your Water Meter
Water meters are found in residential and commercial buildings that use a public water supply system. These meters are designed to keep track of how much water is consumed by a particular household or business.
Water meters are usually found in basements, near the main water line. Another common location for a residence is in the garage.
They are sophisticated pieces of equipment that vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and from municipality to municipality. They also vary depending on the size of the water pipe that feeds into them and their age.
The Flowie-O should be centered between the inlet and the outlet of your water meter.
Flowie is designed to fit on any type of water meter. Place Flowie as low on the meter as you can. Here are some guidelines about where to put it:
Wrap the adjustable band snugly around your water meter. The band can fit around bumps and bulges, so just make sure the orange case, itself, is right up against the water meter.
Reading Your Water Meter
There are lots of different kinds of water meters, but the layout is generally the same: on the face of the meter, the water reading is displayed near the bottom, arranged similarly to the odometer in a car. Some meters are measured in gallons, rounding to the nearest full gallon, while other -- generally, newer -- meters may be measured in cubic meters and include decimals.
The information below contains references to the place value of numbers. In case it's been a while since math class, here's a quick reminder of the positions or place values of numbers within the decimal system.
General rules for reading your meter:
Examples & Instructions
Click on the example pictures below to view a larger version.
Analog - Odometer style
The water use for this meter is:
182.47005 m³
Things to note about this meter:
5/8" pipe rating.
Measured in cubic meters (m³).
A permanent thousands separator on the dial, indicated by a comma (,).
A permanent decimal place on the dial, indicated by a period (.)
Analog - Odometer and small sweep hand
The water use for this meter is:
7734.042 m³
Things to note about this meter:
5/8" pipe rating.
Measured in cubic meters (m³).
Reading is split between an odometer and a small sweep hand.
A permanent decimal place on the dial, indicated by a comma (,).
Decimal position in the odometer is also indicated by inverted colours.
Analog - Odometer and large sweep hand
The water usage for this meter is:
301.192 m³
Analog - Odometer and large sweep hand
The water usage for this meter is:
8.3 gal
Things to note about this meter:
5/8" pipe rating.
Measured in gallons.
Reading is split between an odometer and a large sweep hand.
Digital Reading
The water usage for this meter is:
197.9955 m³
Things to note about this meter:
5/8" pipe rating.
Measured in cubic meters (m³).
Has a cover to help preserve the display and battery.
The reading is only temporarily displayed after lifting the cover. If it disappears before you're done with the reading, close and open the lid to trigger it to display again.
Some digital meters require light for activation, so you may need to shine a flashlight on it to take a reading.