Correctly read water meter / water meter, all figures explained

• Where is the water meter "> The structure of a water meter
• Correct reading of mechanical water meters
• Correctly read electronic water meters

In order to avoid surprises in the upcoming utility bill, it makes sense to check his water consumption at regular intervals. The easiest way is to read the water meter. Even if the view of the water meter at first can be a bit confusing, reading a water meter is not so bad, if you know how to do it.

The waterworks install at least one water meter for each household in Germany in order to determine the consumption and to be able to provide an invoice for the total consumption. These water meters can vary from door to door, but reading is basically the same for every water meter. We explain the easy handling.

Where is the water meter?

Depending on the house or apartment, the water meter can either be distributed in the apartment or centrally located in the basement on the main line. In rental apartments, the water meters are usually in the kitchen and / or the bathroom. If they are not visible under the sink, then there is the possibility that they can be found behind a panel on the riser.

Anyone who moves into a new apartment will be shown the electricity meter and the water meter in the course of the first round with the landlord or the caretaker. In a detached house, however, the water meter is usually next to the main stopcock in the basement or the economic area. In some cases, the reading of the water meter is quite difficult because it is installed or delivered unfavorably. Although this should not be so, but is practiced every now and then. But that's not an obstacle. Here it can help to make a frontal recording of the water meter simply with the mobile phone or a camera and then read the status from the display afterwards.

The construction of a water meter

Now that you have found the water meter, the first look may be incomprehensible to many. Many different numbers or wheels can be confusing. But basically, water meters are self explanatory if you understand the principle. There are electronic and mechanical water meters. Although their appearance differs, they all have a lot in common:

On the side is a seal, usually in the form of a small yellow sticker. This must be in order, so that manipulation can be excluded. On the side of the disc, a calibration date, also on a small sticker, must be legible.

Now we come to the tenant or owner relevant displays of a water meter (described here is a mechanical water meter):

At the top is a stamped number series. This is the water meter number and important if there are several water meters in a household.

In the row underneath there is another row of numbers, but their numbers change according to water consumption. In some water meters, the number series is relatively short and consists only of 5 black numbers. These indicate the water consumption in cubic meters. In these water clocks are below this number series different small cogs or red small hands to see that turn quickly with a water consumption. In general, there are 4 pieces that show the smaller amounts of water (behind the comma up to the exact number of liters).

Other water clocks, however, already have a comma in the variable number series. The 3 numbers behind the comma are displayed in red and embody the cog wheels, so to speak. The reading of these water clocks is of course easier, since you only have to read the numbers away from each other here. Only the fourth and last number after the comma, the liter consumption, is usually indicated here by a small gear or a small red pointer.

Whether the water meter is a water meter for cold water or hot water can be recognized by the color coding . If the readable number row is outlined in red, it is warm water, with a blue border it is a cold water meter.

In our digital age, there are of course digital water meters, whose design is quite simple and manageable. In addition to the number of the water meter here is usually only a digital number of digits to see, which only needs to be read.

Correct reading of mechanical water meters

The mechanical water meters are mostly older models and are gradually being replaced by electronic devices. The reading of mechanical water clocks is more difficult, but is also quite easy for the layman and feasible in a few steps:

Step 1: The reading of the water consumption in cubic meters, so the black numbers before the comma.

Step 2: Reading the red numbers after the comma.

Step 3: Reading the liter reading on the gear or the red pointer below the row of numbers.

If the water meter has no decimal places in the reading field, the values ​​at the individual gears are read off. Reading is always clockwise. The small cog wheels with the units x 0.1 and x 0.01 as well as x 0.001 and x 0.0001 are marked . If the marker or the small red pointer is between two numbers, you can confidently round up or down. For the waterworks, the decimal places anyway play no role in the reading.

Correctly read electronic water meters

The electronic water meters have an LCD display. These water meters are read by recording the number that appears to the left of the cubic meter unit (m3). Some models of water meters have a so-called power-saving mode, so no display is visible. In this case, you only need to press the small button and the device "wakes up". Several values ​​are displayed one after the other. The first time the button is pressed, the current consumption value appears. However, if you want to determine a consumption value within the scope of the meter reading for the waterworks, you need the so-called key date value. Usually, this value will be marked with an "M", but other models may have a different label. In this case, the use brochure that distributes the waterworks when installing electronic water meters helps. This leaflet explains exactly the water meter and the control reading. If this booklet has been lost over time, it can be re-ordered from the relevant waterworks or, in most cases, also downloaded in PDF format on the company's website. The meter number is located on electronic water meters either on the top or on the edge of the device.

Tips for quick readers

Mechanical water meters:

• Read cubic meters by number series
• Read off the numbers (gears) in a clockwise direction

Electronic water meters:

• Activate digital display by pressing a button
• Press button until display "M"
• Read off value