To read a Neptune E‐Coder water meter:

1. Shine a flashlight on the photoelectric eye (look for the flashlight symbol) to activate the screen. The screen eventually will begin to flash between “Reading” and “Rate”.
2. The “Reading” is all water that has passed through the meter in its lifetime – measured in gallons. This is the reading used for billing purposes. Charges are based on units of 1,000 gallons of water used. Be sure to look for the decimal point when reading (see Photo 1). You can calculate how much water is used in a given period by recording the reading at the beginning of the period and at the end of the period. The total water used during that period is:
   • End reading – Beginning reading = Total water used during that period in gallons.
   • Example for a Residential Service:
   • Initial reading collected on 4/1/2013: 005234.12 gal
   • Second reading collected on 5/1/2013: 009438.23 gal
   • 9438.23 gal ‐ 5234.12 gal = 4204.11 gal water used between 4/1/2013 and 5/1/2013. This calculates to be 4,204.11 gallons used during this period. Note that for billing purposes the amount of water used in gallons is rounded down to the nearest 1000 gallons so 4,204.11 gallons becomes 4,000 gallons billed.
3. The “Rate” is the amount of water (in gal /min) that is passing thru the meter at that moment. The ”Rate” can be used for leak detection: if all water in the building is shut off and a rate is observed this means that water is flowing through the meter. Since all water is shut off there must be leaking somewhere in your system.
4. There is a leak indictor faucet icon (see Photo 2) built into this meter, that will either be on solid or flashing indicating that there has been a leak detected. The solid faucet indicates a continuous leak occurrence over the last 24 hrs. Check the last digit on your screen to see if it is incrementing. If so, check your interior and exterior faucets, the valves in your toilets, and look around the exterior of your home for signs of surface water. The flashing faucet indicates an intermittent leak occurrence over the past 24 hrs. Check your interior and exterior faucets and the valves in your toilets to see if leakage is occurring.
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