Meter Reading

How do we read your meter? It's covered in dirt and I can't read the numbers...how can you?

All of our meters are manually read at the end of the even months (February, April, June, August, October and December). We lift the meter lid, uncover the dial lid, clear the dirt and read the meter. At this time, we compare the new read to the previous read. If we feel there might be a problem, like a leak, we will contact you.

How can I read my meter?  

Many of our customer like to read their meters during the two month billing period. Your meter is usually located in the front of your house, on the County easement. Please be very careful in lifting the cover or the lid to view the meter. The cover is very heavy and there may be spiders and/or snakes inside the box. Wipe the glass with a paper towel or soft rag, if necessary.

Depending on the type of meter you have, the dial will look something like the odometer in your car. The center dial of the meter is a flow indicator (older meters have a small red triangle or diamond) that detects leaks if it continues to spin when all the water faucets and sprinklers are turned off.

If it is turning and you do not have any water on, you might have a leak on your property! 

GVCWD, like most water utilities, uses cubic feet as a unit of measure.  The series of numbers at the bottom or top of the dial record your water consumption in units of 100 cubic feet.

Read the numbers left to right, but don’t include the last two numbers to the right. For example, if your last reading of 95000 is subtracted from the current reading of 95900 that equals 9 units or 900 cubic feet. A unit (100) equals approximately 748 gallons of water.

To figure out how much water you use during a certain period, for example, for one day, write down the number, then check the meter again at the same time the next day. Subtract the old number from the new number to get the total usage for that day.

Below is an example of a customer’s water bill. This customer used 900 CCF, which is 6,732 gallons of water in two months or (or 108.58 gallons per day).