The Neptune T-10 water meter has a straightforward face, and just a quick look at the Register tells you your consumption. And then, for a complete reading, the simple trick is to separate it into two distinct parts: The Register and The Dial.
The Register: The Big Picture Number
1. The Register in this example water meter displays — 1023670 —
Translation: 1 million, 23 thousand, 6 hundred and 70 U.S. Gallons, or: 1,023,670
Now, you could stop reading your meter here, because you know, at a general level, that the water meter reading is 1,023,670 gallons. And, to simplify, many landlords will only read the Register (to the nearest 100 gallons) because typically, consumption under 100 gallons isn’t that expensive.
2. However, since you’re probably NOT consuming by
the millions of gallons (or haven’t got there yet), you’ll most likely
focus on just the last few numbers on the Register, depending on your
rate of consumption. In this example, those last few numbers are — 670 —
Translation: 670 U.S. Gallons.
The Dial: The Number of Single-Digit Gallons for That Static Zero
3. As the red sweep hand on the Dial moves from one
number to the next number (e.g., 0 to 1), it’s measuring one gallon, so
one complete rotation equals 10 gallons. That static zero is the
placeholder for the dial number reading, so replace the static zero with
the red Dial number, remembering to round down. In this example it is —
4 —
Translation: 4 U.S. Gallons, so your water meter reading is now at: 674 U.S. Gallons, and your TOTAL is: 1,023,674 U.S. Gallons.
So What’s My Rate of Consumption? The Final Tip: Simple Subtraction
To get your rate of water consumption between water meter readings: Take
your previous water meter reading, and subtract it from your most
current water meter reading.