A. Meter Required: No free service from the water system shall be furnished to any person or property. Every customer of the water system shall have a remote meter reader and a service connection to said system. The only exception to the requirement of having a meter shall be for fire protection systems.
B. Purchase From Village: The Village shall sell the meter and remote meter reader to owner. Owner shall pay the cost of said instruments as well as the cost of their installation. Owner shall purchase said instruments from the Village and no other. The charges for the instrument and their installation shall be due and payable prior to installation of same.
C. Location; Installation: Water meters and remote meter readers shall be installed by or on behalf of the owner. The location of the meter and remote meter reader shall be easily accessible at the front of the structure and such location must be approved by the Plumbing Inspector prior to installation. There shall be no grounding of electrical service by attachment to the water pipes. All necessary piping and fittings necessary to facilitate the meter installation, including a one hundred twenty five (125) psi brass gate valve at the head of the meter, shall be furnished by or on behalf of the owner prior to installation. All meters and remote meter readers shall be attached, set, moved or repaired by order of the chairman. The meter and remote meter reader must be installed prior to the final inspection. The remote meter reader shall be installed on the street side of the premises to be served and located three feet (3') to five feet (5') above grade. Prior to the installation of any meter or putting the service pipe back in service after repairs, the service pipe must be flushed. Such flushing shall be done while the service pipe is not connected to the meter.
D. Multiple Meters: Where water is supplied through two (2) or more meters to one customer or to two (2) or more premises owned by one person, in no instance will the readings of such meters be combined, but a bill rendered as per meter reading of each meter. The Village will not recognize a secondary or subtraction meter and will not render any bills on same. The water will always be charged against the property as registered by a primary meter.
E. Seal: All meters shall be closed by a seal and any person tampering with or breaking such seal or causing same to be broken shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
F. Accuracy: Water meters will be considered inaccurate and in need of repair when the variation from one hundred percent (100%) accuracy shall be in excess of two percent (2%).
G. Installation:
1. Accessories, Equipment: No accessories or equipment other than the equipment listed herein shall be installed within twelve inches (12") of either side or in front of the water meter.
2. Meter Interface Unit (MIU): All buildings served by the Village shall be equipped with a meter interface unit supplied by the Village. Said unit shall be mounted on the wall, with brackets provided, within five feet (5') of meter location.
3. Surface Mount Phone Jack: A quick connect, surface mount RJ-11 phone jack (4-wire) shall be installed within two feet (2') of the meter interface unit. The phone jack assembly shall be wired into the building's telephone service wiring to allow centralized automatic water meter reading over the telephone network.
4. Remote Wiring:
a. A remote meter reading touchpad shall be mounted on the building within two feet (2') of the front entryway of all single-family residences and in a location determined by the Water Department for all commercial and multi-family units.
b. Under no circumstance shall the touchpad be lower than thirty inches (30") above the building foundation.
c. A three (3) conductor 22-gauge wire, provided by the Village, shall be run from the meter interface unit to the remote meter touchpad in a one-half inch (1/2") EMT conduit terminating within one foot (1') of the MIU and flush with the outermost exterior wall immediately below the touchpad. Each end of said conduit shall be fitted with a male connector and nylon bushing to protect the wire. The entire length of said conduit shall be installed in accordance with National Electrical Code (NEC) standards.
5. Connections: Wire connections between the water meter interface unit (MIU), remote meter touchpad and surface mount phone jack shall be performed as follows:
a. Water Meter To Meter Interface Unit (MIU): Three (3) conductor 22-gauge wire, provided by the Village, red, green and black wires to R, G and B terminals on meter and MIU.
b. Meter Interface Unit To Remote Meter Touchpad: Three (3) conductor 22-gauge wire, provided by the Village, red and black wires to terminals on touchpad and two (2) terminals on port 1 (marked TP) in meter interface unit.
c. Meter Interface Unit To Surface Mount Phone Jack: Telephone line extension plug (connection to meter interface unit) to RJ-11 phone jack. (Ord. 625, 6-19-1995)
H. Meter Failure: Whenever any meter, by reason of its being out for repair or for any cause, fails promptly to register the water passing through it, the user shall be charged at double the rate shown for the corresponding time of the previous year under like conditions. If no record of the previous year exists, then it shall be the duty of the Village staff to estimate or to determine, so far as they can, the amount of water consumed during the time such meter failed to operate, and the consumer shall pay double the amount so estimated. After the meter failure issue has been corrected, a reevaluation of the utility account will be completed to determine if a refund needs to be issued based on the increased estimate billing. The decision to issue a refund shall be solely within the discretion of the Village. (Ord. 2017-09-19, 9-19-2017)