Water Meters

Your water meter measures the amount of water used in your household. It's usually located in the ground under a cast iron or plastic cover or adjacent to your building.

Typical WaterOne Service Connection DiagramMeter Safety

Remember: Please keep the area around your water meter clear so we can access it easily.

WaterOne strongly discourages opening or tampering with your meter pit and meter. Meters and meter pits are WaterOne property. If you have questions about your meter reading, water usage amount, or need to disconnect service to a property, contact Customer Service at 913-895-1800 and we will be happy to assist you.

Meter Malfunction & Testing

WaterOne regularly tests meters and replaces or repairs them as needed. Larger meters (usually for larger commercial customers) can be bypassed and tested on location without interrupting water service. Smaller meters are simply swapped out and the old meter is brought back and tested at our facility. WaterOne maintains a testing schedule in accordance with industry standards and best practices.

A common myth about water meters: That a malfunctioning water meter is to blame for a surprise high bill. Water meters slow down with age; they don't speed up, which is typically in the customer's favor. If you get a surprise high bill, a hidden leak in your home or private service line is usually to blame. Learn more about detecting leaks.

Types of Meters

Small Meters

This is a positive displacement meter. The flow of water spins a measuring chamber inside the bronze part of the body. The measuring chamber is magnetically connected to an odometer which moves the register numbers as the customer uses water.

WaterOne also uses small electronic meters. Electronic meters have no moving parts and measure the flow of water digitally.

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Large Meters

Turbine meters are for high flow industrial applications with little or no domestic low flow usage. They require more flow than a positive displacement meter before the turbine starts moving. For example, a 3 inch turbo meter isn't very accurate below 8 gallons per minute (gpm) and cannot properly measure low flow usage, such as a toilet flush. Turbine meters are appropriate for systems with intermediate and immediate high volume use, such as irrigation systems.

Compound meters are used for large flow users and low flow domestic use. One style of compound meter combines a small positive displacement meter and a turbine meter. The positive displacement meter records low flow use, and when usage exceeds 10 to 15 gpm, the flow is bypassed and read by the turbine section of the meter. 

Large Electronic Magmeters, depending on the application, are also an option for customers with large usage. 

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Hydrant MetersHydrant Meters

WaterOne rents hydrant meters to landscapers, contractors, and others who need a temporary water connection. The meter mounts to the 2.5 inch fire hydrant nozzle, and the customer can then hook up their water tanker or equipment to the meter's gate valve. Request a hydrant meter here.

Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)

WaterOne has installed an RF network to read all the meters remotely. The transmitter at the meter utilizes a battery. In order to extend the battery life, the transmitter briefly communicates every 4 hours and transmits hourly consumption. 

With AMI, WaterOne customers now have access to personal daily water consumption data. Through the MyAccount dashboard, customers can use this data to monitor usage online and set up personal alerts to prevent leaks and avoid surprise high bills. It also provides WaterOne employees with better data to help troubleshoot customer concerns.