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Reading Your Water Meter



We encourage our water customers to read their water meters.  

Your Water Meter  (PDF),  Medidor de Agua (PDF)

Quick tips:
▪  Keep water off -  
when checking your water meter be sure there is no water being used on the property.

▪  Find your meter -
typically its in a gray plastic or cement rectangular box, normally located in front of your house close to the street and/or sidewalk.

▪  Open your meter box -
Open the meter box by inserting the screwdriver in the hole on the top of the box and lifting the cover off.  
 
▪  Read your meter -
On the meter face you will see a red needle (similar to the hand of a clock) or a small triangle.  As water flows through the meter the needle or triangle moves.  If the needle or triangle on the face of the meter is moving, either someone is using water or you have a  leak.  If the needle is not moving you still may have a slow leak.

▪  Use your meter to detect a slow leak -
Use a marking pen and mark the location of the needle on the face of the meter. Come back in 2 or more hours and check to see if the needle has moved past the pen mark. If it has, you have a slow leak. Remember water must remain off during this process.

Purchase WaterSense Labeled Products

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Check for leaks regularly



Indoor water check list (pdf)
Tips for Conserving Water (PDF), 
Sugerencias para Conservar el Agua (PDF)


Quick tips:

▪  Check your toilet! 
20% of all toilets leak. Click here for more information.

▪  Look for drips - faucets, fixtures, hoses and plumbing in kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and appliances and at all outside plumbing and irrigation.

▪  Observe irrigation in use – look for broken sprinkler heads, missing emitters, cut drip lines, and saturated areas.  Check your irrigation schedule (length of time, number of days and stations). 

▪  Change your irrigation controller’s back-up battery – the battery in your irrigation controller insures that your irrigation controller will keep your watering schedule during a power outage.  If the battery is dead and the power goes out irrigation controllers return to the default mode (usually 15 minutes, every station, every day at night), doubling your water bill.

▪  Water softeners can malfunction -
Check the salt reservoir.  Increased salt use correlates to increased water usage, and may indicate a change in the regeneration schedule or malfunction. 

▪  Irrigation valve box can leak - 
Listen for the sound of running water at the pressure regulator where the water line comes into the house. 

Top     -     Meter     -     Leaks     -     Re-circulating pumps     -     Water Softeners     -     Toilets & Washers



High Efficiency Toilets (HET’s)
Rebates available
HET’s -  1.28 gallons per flush or less!  This is an improvement on Ultra Low Flow Toilets (ULFT’s) that use between 1.28 and 1.6 gallons per flush and non-ULFT’s that use 5 to 7 gallons per flush.  A High Efficiency Toilet will, on average, save 38 gallons per day when replacing a non-ULFT and 7 gallons per day when replacing a ULFT.



High Efficiency Clothes Washers (HEW’s)
Rebates available
HEW’s – use 50% less water and energy per load!  A traditional top loading washer uses about 41 gallons per load.   A HEW uses less than 20 gallons of water per load.  Additional energy savings are seen with the effectiveness of the spin cycles which removes excess water and shortens drying time.

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Hot Water

On-demand Re-circulating Hot Water Pumps


How do on-demand re-circulating hot water pumps work?
Systems are designed to move the hot water from your water heater to your most remote fixture within seconds.  At the push of a button the cool water you normally let run down the drain is circulated back to the water heater through the cold water line.  Systems can easily be installed under the sink farthest from your water heater.

Types of Systems

There are different types of systems that work with existing hot water storage tanks:

·       on-demand recirculation pumps

·       non-electrical thermal convection control valves

Hot Water Demand System (electrical pump system) - The Hot Water Demand system (HWDS) is an electric water pumping system that quickly (typically within 30 seconds) brings hot water to the fixture by drawing water from the hot water tank and returning cooler water to the hot water tank where it is reheated. The HWDS is usually installed under the sink farthest from the water heater. At the push of a button, it circulates the water normally discarded down the drain back to the water heater through the cold water line. Simultaneously, the HWDS pumps hot water from the hot water heater to the fixture. When a predetermined temperature (usually 5°F above room temperature) at the fixture is reached, the pump stops automatically and hot water is available at the faucet. The pump may be operated by a switch placed next to the fixture or by a remote control.

Hot Water Valve (non-electrical) - This is a mechanical control valve installed at the point of use. When the water in your hot water pipe and the control valve cools below about 85 degrees F (user adjustable), the thermal materials within the control valve contract, and silently open the valve. Thermal convection naturally circulates the cooled water through your existing cold water pipes and back to the hot water tank for reheating. Your existing hot water tank now uses less energy reheating 85 degree F water instead of cold ground temperature water.  When hot water reaches the control valve, the valve automatically closes.

This maintains hot water at the control valve without wasting water or energy. Turn on the faucet or shower and you get hot water. When you mount the hot water control valve in the fixture furthest from your hot water tank all other fixtures in your house also benefit. No electricity is necessary. This type of valve is all mechanical and designed to provide an electricity free solution to maintain hot water at the tap.

Note: Circulation of water by thermal convection must not be restricted (no check-valves) between the hot water tank and the control valve.

Activation Systems
Systems can be activated by an on/off button, motion sensor, thermostat or timer.  Thermostats or timers automatically turn on the pump whenever water temperature drops below a set-point, or when the timer reaches a setting. Although, these systems ensure that hot water is always available at the faucet without any waiting they may use more energy than an on/off button due to more frequent recirculation cycles.

Instant “Tankless” Hot Water Systems
While limiting wait time these may or may not help with water conservation.  These can be installed with gas/propane or electrical connections. They do not require a tank for storing and maintaining hot water. Water is heated instantly and on demand only, eliminating the need to store and constantly heat water.

Tankless water heaters can provide an endless supply of hot water which means the capacity of your water tank does not limit the use of hot water.

For more information go to, www.energy.gov      

Factors to Consider When Purchasing a Tankless Water Heater:

1.  Your simultaneous water usage needs.  Do you need to run 2 showers at the same time or maybe a shower and a couple sinks?  The chart below shows the range of water usage range and average water temperatures for various fixtures.  Use a 2.5 gpm flow rate for a shower and 1.0 gpm for a lavatory sink as a reference point to determine your total simultaneous water needs.

For example, if you are running 2 showers at the same time, you will be requesting 5 gallons per minute from the tankless water heater.  If you were running a shower and the washing machine at the same time, you would be requesting 5 ½ gallons per minute from the water heater.  In either of these situations, you would need something that produces at least 5-5 ½ gallons per minute.
2.  Gas vs Electric –sometimes you have a choice between gas and electric. The gas units are typically more powerful than the electric units and are more energy efficient.  The most important considerations for a gas installation are the venting, proper gas line sizing, combustion air requirements and venting of combustion gases.  The electric tankless water heaters are hard wired and typically have high amperage requirements; however, there is no combustion air or venting requirement with an electric unit. This means an electric unit can be cheaper to install, but remember that electricity is a more expensive form of energy than gas.

www.h2ouse.org
www.cuwcc.org/res_hot_water.lasso

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Water Softeners

Things you can do to conserve water and reduce salt use -
1. Use Potassium Chloride – Do Not use sodium chloride.  By using potassium chloride, sodium is eliminated from the discharge brine.  Sodium causes problems during the wastewater treatment process.

2.  Water Softener Setting – 19 - 21 grains/gallon.  First try setting at 19 grains/gallon.  If you feel the water needs to be softer then try 20 grains/gallon.  When setting are too high it takes more water to wash off soaps.

3.  Set Cycle for Efficiency – Most water softeners are set to cycle too often, requiring more potassium chloride, water and energy.

3.  Replace Time Clock Controlled Water Softeners – By installing a “Demand Initiated Regeneration” water softeners are only in use while water is in use. This saves water, energy and maintenance.  Retrofit DIR Controllers are available that allow easy conversion of time clock controlled models.  Look for Water Sense® and Energy Star® models for replacements.