A. Installation of meters. The authority shall install a meter on the service of every person using water.
B. Ownership of meters. All meters put in by the authority shall be owned and remain the property of the authority and shall not be removed unless the use of water on the premises be entirely stopped or service connections discontinued or abandoned.
C. Water to pass through meter. No person shall obtain any water from the water system except when the same shall pass through a properly installed meter.
D. Placement. Water meters shall be placed as near as possible and convenient to the curb or the property line of the property served thereby. Residential and commercial property meters may be placed between the curb and the sidewalk or between the sidewalk and the property line. All locations shall be approved by the authority.
E. Protection. Every water meter shall be protected at all times from freezing or other injury. In case an injury occurs, the authority will make repairs at its own cost, except in cases of neglect of the owner or occupant, in which case the authority will make the repair at the cost of the owner or occupant of the premises served. A failure to keep the water box covered shall not be the neglect of the authority, but of the user, and freezing repairs due to the same shall be at the cost of the owner or occupant.
F. Placement of yard hydrants. No yard hydrant shall be placed nearer than ten (10) feet of any water meter. In no case shall a yard hydrant be placed so that the drainage therefrom will run toward or into the meter pit.
G. Repair and replacement. By all cases where meters are lost, injured, or broken by carelessness of negligence of the owners or occupants of premises, they shall be repaired or replaced by the authority, and the cost shall be charged against the owner or occupant.
H. Improper registration of meter. In the event of the meter getting out of order or failing to register properly, the consumer shall be charged on an estimate based on the average monthly consumption during the last three (3) months the same was in good order, or from what may be the most reliable data at the command of the authority.
I. Multiple meters. In all cases where the consumer's piping or plumbing is divided, necessitating the use of two (2) or more meters, each meter shall be handled and regarded as for separate and distinct consumer, to each of which shall apply the regular water rates and minimum charges until such time as such plumbing or piping is so arranged as to permit the use of but one (1) meter. Under no circumstance shall consumption shown by two (2) or more meters in use by the same consumer be added or lumped together in order to reduce the net sum due the authority.