(A) Required. All water sold or supplied by the city shall be furnished through meters and shall be paid for at the meter rate now established by the city or as may hereafter from time to time be established. The owners of all property in the city in which water is used from the city system of water mains shall have installed, as provided in this section, upon their respective premises, a water meter of the kind designated in this section. The meter shall be properly attached to a service pipe so as to correctly measure all city water used on the premises.
(B) Tests. All meters so installed shall first be tested by a proper officer of the city and a permit therefor shall be granted by the Director of Public Works or another officer of the city authorized by the Mayor and Council.
(C) Installation. All meters installed by the property owner or occupant of the premises shall be placed by an employee of the Department of Public Works or by a proper mechanic or plumber authorized by the Director. The owner and occupant of the premises in which the meter is installed shall be liable for the theft thereof, any breakage by freezing or otherwise or damage to it in any manner. The owner shall replace or repair the same or any part thereof within five days after notice by the Director or other officer of the city, and on failure to comply with the notice, the water shall be shut off.
(D) Price schedule. The fee for all meters sold by the city to water consumers will be determined based on the actual price from the city’s supplier, plus 25% for labor, delivery and installation.
(E) Placement; protection.
(1) Upon premises where there are well-protected basements, meters shall be set in the basements as near as possible to where the service pipe enters the basement. All meters on service pipes connected with premises in which there are no basements or which are inaccessible shall be set in meter boxes to be approved by the Director or some duly authorized officer thereof. In no event shall a meter be placed in a crawl space or in any area upon the premises which is inaccessible.
(2) The owner must provide protection for the meter against freezing. If the meter freezes, the city will repair or replace it once at no cost to the owner. If it freezes again, it will be replaced by the city or repaired only at cost to the owner. Meters frozen a second time shall not be considered an emergency.
(F) Repairs. The owner or occupant of any building or premises where any meter connected with a service pipe of the water supply system of the city is installed shall see that the meter is kept and remains free from obstructions on or around the same and that it is conveniently accessible at all reasonable times for the purpose of reading, inspecting or repairing the same. The Director or other employee or agent of the city shall be permitted, at all reasonable hours, to inspect or examine the meter for the purpose of reading or repairing the same. The water shall be turned off from any service pipe where the meter connected therewith is not kept free, accessible and repaired as required in this section, and the same shall not be turned on again until this section has been complied with and until the cost of turning off and turning on the water has been paid.
(G) Unauthorized connections and disturbances. No person, unless properly authorized by the city, shall connect, disconnect, remove, repair or otherwise disturb any water meter. No person shall turn on the supply of water to the service pipe from which the supply has been turned off by the authority of the city on account of nonpayment of water charges or noncompliance with this section without first obtaining from the Director or some authorized officer of the city a permit to do so.
(H) Faulty meters.
(1) If a meter, for any cause, fails to register the quantity of water passing through the same for any period, the amount charged for water during that period shall be estimated by the Director or another authorized officer of the city. The estimate shall be based on the average amount registered during the two preceding like periods. The charge for turning on or off the water in all cases for a violation of this section shall be the same as is now prescribed for that service in other cases.
(2) (a) If any consumer desires to have his or her water meter tested, he or she shall deposit with the Department of Public Works a fee as follows, and the Department shall thereupon have the meter tested:
Meter Size (Inches)
|
Fee
|
3/4 | $30 |
1 to 1-1/2 | $50 |
(b) The fee for any other size meter will be determined based on the actual cost to the city, including labor and burden.
(3) A water meter shall be considered accurate if, when subjected by the Department to a standard test, its register indicates not to exceed 2% more or 2% less than the actual quantity of water passing through it. If its register exceeds 2% more than the actual quantity of water passing through it, it shall be considered fast to that extent. If its register exceeds 2% less than the actual quantity of water passing through it, it shall be considered slow to that extent.
(4) If a meter is tested at the request of the consumer and determined to register fast, the Department shall credit the consumer with a sum equal to the percent by which it is fast multiplied by the amount of all bills incurred by the consumer within the three months prior to the test. If the meter is determined to register slow, the Department shall collect from the consumer a sum equal to the percent by which it is slow multiplied by the amount of all the bills incurred by the consumer for the three months prior thereto.
(5) If the meters tested are found to be inaccurate as noted above, the Department shall give credit on the next water bill or bills for the amount deposited pursuant to division (H)(2) of this section, but if the meters tested are found to be accurate, the fee shall be retained by the Department to cover the expense of making the test.
(I) Types. The Buffalo meter of the American Meter Control Company or any other water meter constructed upon like principles and of equal merit is adopted and approved for exclusive use in the city, provided, however, that every other meter which may be installed shall first be approved by the Director before it is installed.
(2000 Code, § 13.04.020) (Ord. 2006-06-0037O, passed 6-13-2006)