How to Read a Utility Meter
The field office of Customer Service Operations is
responsible for the monthly reading of electric, gas and water meters.
Maintaining the readability and accessibility to these meters and the
design of new routes and schedules to effectively read and inspect the
meters is also Customer Service’s responsibility. Customer Service Field
Representatives turn on and off all utility services as well as perform
inspections of meters and services due to unusual utility usage. The
investigation, assessment and collection of fines for illegal diversion
of City utilities comes under the jurisdiction of Customer Service.
Electric
The City of Mesa uses dial and digital meters to measure power usage.
Dial meter
Each of the five dials on the meter represent one digit. If the pointer is between two numbers, record the lowest
number. If the pointer is directly on a number, record the next lowest
number unless the pointer on the dial to its right has passed zero.
In this example the reading would be 46462.
Digital meter
The digital meter displays numbers in four or five windows. If you have
this meter, you simply record the numbers.
Gas The dials on a natural gas meter are like
watch faces lined in a row (every other dial moves
counterclockwise.) Notice that when the pointer is
between two numbers, you should record the lower of
the two numbers.
When the pointer seems to be directly on a
number, look at the dial to the right, if the
pointer on the right side dial has passed "0", then
write down the number the pointer seems to be on; if
the pointer on the right side dial has not passed
"0", then write down the previous lower number on
the dial you are recording.
| Take the
number the first pointer has just passed
|
- 0 |
| Take the
number the second pointer has just passed
|
- 5 |
| Take the
number the third pointer has just passed
|
- 6 |
| Take the
number the fourth pointer has just passed
|
- 3 |
| Add two
zeros |
- 056300 - This is
the meter reading (in cubic feet of gas) |
Water
Using a screwdriver or stick, slide the meter box lid off. Lift the meter face
cover. You will see a glass dial similar to an odometer of a car (an
example is below). The sweep hand measures each gallon of water up to 10
gallons and is used mainly for testing. The first number on the right of
the dial is a "lazy zero". It represents the 'ones' place.
There is no need for it to move because the sweep hand does its work. The
movable dials to the left read in 10s, 100s, 1,000s of gallons, and so on.
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