A. Property of City: All water meters installed shall be and remain the property of the City or its successor.
B. Application for Meter: All applications for the installation, maintenance, and repair of water meters shall be made to the City Water and Wastewater Division. City Water and Wastewater Division staff shall proceed to comply with such application within a reasonable time thereafter.
C. Authority to Install, Maintain, Repair and Break Seal: No person other than the City or its designee shall install, maintain, or repair any water meter within the City limits. Every water meter connected to the water system shall be sealed by or under the direction of the Building Official, and no person shall break or remove such seal; provided, however, that a plumber licensed to do business in the City may break such seal or remove such meter for necessary repairs. In all cases where a seal is broken or a meter is removed by a licensed plumber, such plumber shall notify the Building Official of the fact within twenty-four (24) hours after the seal is broken or the meter is removed. Whenever any seal attached to a water meter by or under the direction of the Building Official is found broken, the broken condition of such seal shall be prima facie evidence that such seal was broken contrary to the terms and provisions in violation of this Chapter.
D. Accessibility of Meters: All water meters connected to the water system shall be accessible to the Building Official or designee at any reasonable hour of any business day. The refusal of admission by any owner or occupant of any premises wherein a water meter is installed after such owner or occupant has been notified that admission is desired for the purpose of inspecting a water meter installed in such premises shall constitute a violation of this Chapter.
E. Repairs: Meters shall be repaired from time to time as is necessary to ensure accurate measuring of the flow of water; except, that whenever a meter has been damaged due to negligence on the part of persons other than the employees of the City, the owner, occupant, or user of the premises or such other persons desiring the use of the water shall reimburse the City within a reasonable time and, upon demand therefor, the water service and supply to such premises may be shut off or discontinued as determined to be in the best interest of the City.
F. Additional Meters: In the event a customer utilizes water in such a way that it is not discharged into the City sanitary sewer system, installation of additional meters may be authorized to measure the volume of such consumption to prevent payment of sewer charges on that amount. Any such additional meters now installed or installed in the future between the City water main and the customer’s primary water service meter shall comply in all respects with all ordinances and regulations governing water meters set forth herein.
G. Meter Tests: Whenever a water user questions the accuracy of the meter and desires that their meter be tested, water user shall pay a fee established by Council resolution if the meter tests accurate within a range of minus three percent (-3%) to plus one and one-half percent (1 ½%). If it is not accurate within this range, no charge will be made for testing, and adjustment on the water bill will be made for the period of time that the meter is assumed to be inaccurate, not to exceed two (2) billing periods.
H. Tampering with Meters: No person shall tamper with, alter, bypass or in any manner whatsoever interfere with the proper use and functioning of any water meter within the City.