How we read your meter
Iredell Water Corporation has Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) installed to measure water usage to your residence or business. These meters are read remotely daily from a tower-mounted collector system (AMI). We also encourage our customers to read your water meter between billings to monitor your water use and look for signs of a water leak. You may also receive a phone call, text message, email, or door hanger from time to time notifying you of a possible leak. The following information should help you understand how to read your meter and use it to check for possible leaks in you plumbing system.
Where is the meter located at your home or business?
Our water meter is usually located 10 to 20 feet off the edge of the road on the state right-of- way, between the ditch line and your property line. Sometimes there is a blue dot or blue line on the pavement directly in line with our meter. Our meter is typically installed in a concrete or polymer box in the ground with either a concrete, polymer or metal lid which measures about 10 inches by 15 inches or slightly larger. It may or may not have a hinged metal hatch in the cover which may be opened to read the meter. If you cannot read the meter through the small, hinged opening or if there is no hinged opening, the entire lid may be removed. You may have to remove grass which is covering the water meter box with a small shovel or garden hoe. If you have difficulty finding the meter serving your residence or business, please call our Customer Service staff at 704-876-0672.
Please keep your meter lid free of grass and dirt by weed eating or shoveling monthly.
How can I read the meter to find out how much water I use?
All our meters are now digital AMI water meters. This means the reading is digital and can read remotely multiple times daily by our software in most instances. You may log into our consumer access site online to see your most recent reading in the last 24 hours, or you may contact our office.
If you wish to get your own manual reading, please remove the meter lid first. You will then record the meter numbers from left to right. The meter reading will measure down to 0.1 gallons. If the reading on the meter display is 00032235.6, it would be read as 32,235 gallons. You can subtract the reading on your most recent water bill from this meter reading to see how much water you have used since the last billing.
How to use the meter to check your plumbing system for leaks.
After locating the water meter, please make sure no water is being used in the home or business. While looking at the face of the meter as shown in the picture at the bottom of the page, there may be a circle which appears to spin to the lower left side of the digital screen. This indicates water is flowing through the meter currently. If there is a blinking faucet to the right of the spinning circle this indicates a flow of greater than 1% of the max meter flow. (=<0.25 gallons per minute on a ¾” meter).
You should then use a paper towel or cloth to dry the screen of the meter off and lightly press with you finger the fingerprint to the right of the digital screen. This will change the display to show Gallons Per Minute (GPM). This will show you the real time usage at this time. It will display as 0.00 gpm. If it shows 1.25 it means the meter is flowing 1¼ gallons per minute currently. The display will return to the main reading display on its own.
If your meter has water flowing through it and you do not know where the leak may be, begin by isolating portions of your water line. First find and turn off the valve under your house or in your basement. This will shut off the water inside the home but still have water on the service line to the home. Check the meter for flow again. If there is still flow on the meter the leak is between the meter and the valve under your home. If the flow stopped this indicates a leak inside the home and is most likely is a toilet.
You can perform a dye test on the toilets after turning the water back to the home or business. If you do not know how to do the dye test, please google “how to do a dye test on a toilet” for a detailed description and multiple “how-to” videos.
Other displays on the face of the meter are described in the document labeled "Kamstrup Meter Display Codes" at the bottom of the page.
Please repair leaks as soon as possible to avoid water waste and high-water bills
Iredell Water Corporation’s responsibility for maintenance and repair ends at the meter box. Any leaks in the service line between the meter box and the home or business or in the internal plumbing are the responsibility of the customer. If you have difficulty finding a leak or are not able to fix a leak, we recommend that you contact a licensed plumber or other knowledgeable person. You may need to turn off the water service by using the master shut-off valve in your plumbing system until the leak is repaired. The master shut-off is usually located where the plumbing enters the building or within a few feet of the crawl space door. Please be aware that using your shut-off valve will not stop a leak in the private water service line between our meter and the shut-off. If there is a leak in the service line, you, a plumber, or Iredell Water can turn off the water at our meter. There may be a charge if you contact Iredell Water to cut the meter off for a leak repair.
If you have any further questions please feel free to contact our office!
Meter Face
