Greater Vernon Water

Coldstream began water metering around 1960. After a pilot project in the late 1980s, the City of Vernon incorporated universal water metering in 1992. Billing based upon the meter readings started in 1994. The program significantly reduced the amount of water used by the City of Vernon. Water wasted by over irrigation and household leaks formed the bulk of the savings. The reduced use extends the life of facilities, including water intakes, pump stations and water mains. Reducing sewage flows to the water reclamation system produces similar benefits. Significant benefits to the environment are also realized. These include reduced water diversions, less chemical and power usage.

A household water meter is a brass fixture, about the size of two fists put together. The meter measures water flow into the home. This is used to compile the water and sewer charges. A wire connects the meter to an automatic reading box [ARB] outside the house. Greater Vernon Water uses the ARB to read the meter without entering the home.

The household meter has a mechanical digital [odometer like] counter, and a red indicator, which is about 2 inches long. The meter reads in cubic meters, where one cubic meter is about 220 imperial gallons. The black odometer numbers on the white background are cubic meters, and the white numbers on a black background are tenths of a cubic meter. The numbers on the outside of the dial are hundredths of a cubic meter, and the small ticks on the outside of the dial, about 3 mm [1/8 inch] apart are liters [1/1000 of a cubic meter]. To roughly test your household meter, run water into a 20 liter [5 gallon] pail, and the large red dial should move about 20 ticks, or 0.02 cubic meters.