(a) New Construction or Installations. On all new construction or new installations, provision shall be made by the property owner, builder or plumbing contractor for outside register meters to be furnished by the City of such size as may be determined by the Department of Engineering and Building in accordance with the Plumbing Code of the City.
(Ord. 7-A-4. Passed 10-17-67.)
(b) Provision of Meters; Ownership. All water meters shall be provided by the City and one meter shall be provided for each tap to the City water line, on payment of charges as provided by Council, but all such meters shall remain the property of the Department of Water and Sewers and shall at all times be under its control.
(c) Location of Meters. All meters shall be set in an accessible location approved by and in a manner satisfactory to the Superintendent of the Department.
(Ord. 5. Passed 6-17-52.)
(d) Outside Meters. The installation of a meter in a meter pit is prohibited. Maintenance of existing meter pits shall be the responsibility of the property owner, which maintenance shall be performed in compliance with standards promulgated by the Superintendent.
(Ord. 1990-01. Passed 1-2-90.)
(e) Cost of Meter Pit. Subsection (e) was repealed by Ordinance 1990-01, passed January 2, 1990.)
(f) Meters to be Sealed. All meters and remote registers shall be sealed by the Department and no person except an authorized employee of the Department may break such seals. Penalty for the unauthorized breaking of the seal is set forth in Section 1040.98.
(Ord. 1990-01. Passed 1-2-90.)
(g) Maintenance of Meters. The expense of maintaining meters shall be borne by the Department, except that in cases where replacements, resealing, repairs and adjustments of a meter are made necessary by the act, negligence or carelessness of a customer, the expense to the Department caused thereby shall be charged and collected from the customer in the same manner as other charges provided in this chapter.
(h) Responsibility for Meters. The customer on whose premises a meter is installed shall be responsible for its care and protection from freezing, or from injury or interference by any person.
(i) Notice of Injury or Imperfection. In case of injury to a meter, or in case of its stoppage or imperfect operation, or the breaking of a seal, the customer shall give immediate notice to the Department.
(j) Change in Location of Meter. After a meter has been once installed, its location shall not be changed except by permit from the Department, in which event the cost thereof shall be borne by the customer.
(k) Reading of Meters. All meters required under this chapter shall be read by the Department at intervals designated by the Superintendent and bills to customers will be rendered in accordance with such readings and charges as provided in this chapter.
(Ord. 5. Passed 6-17-52.)
(l) Meter Failures. If any meter becomes faulty or fails to register, the customer will be charged at the average quarterly consumption rate as shown by the meter reading for the last four billings to such customer when the meter was accurately registering, provided that the customer has been using water for such period. Otherwise, such billing shall be based on the estimate made by the Department of Water and Sewers and adjusted when a full year's experience is had.
(Ord. 7-A-4. Passed 10-17-67.)
(m) Inaccessible Meters. In cases where the meter reader is unable to gain access to read a meter, a billing shall be made on the basis of consumption for the average of the last four billings to such customer and adjusted upon the billing made for the next time a reading is obtained. If more than two consecutive billings lapse without a reading, the Department shall notify the customer as to the date and time when a representative will be present to read the meter. If permanent arrangements, satisfactory to the Department, to read such meter are not made, the service shall be discontinued in the same manner as provided for nonpayment of bills.
(Ord. 1990-01. Passed 1-2-90.)
(n) Testing of Meters. All meters shall be carefully tested before they are installed and after their installation they shall be tested as frequently as the Department deems it advisable. The Department reserves the right to remove and test a meter at any time and to substitute meters either temporarily or permanently if it deems it to be advisable.
(Ord. 5. Passed 6-17-52.)
(o) Testing at Customer's Request. Should a customer, at any time, question the accuracy of a meter on his or her premises, the Department shall, upon the customer's written request, remove and test such meter. If the test shows that the meter has been over-registering more than two percent, an accurate meter shall be installed. Otherwise, the customer will be billed a service charge as provided for in Section 210.13(a) to cover the cost of testing meters up to two inches; for meters over two inches the actual cost of testing will be charged.
(Ord. 1990-01. Passed 1-2-90.)
(p) Bill Adjustments. If, at any time, upon the testing of a meter, it is found that such meter is over-registering or under-registering by more than two percent, an adjustment in billing shall be made in accordance with the provisions of this chapter for billing in the event of meter failures.
(Ord. 5. Passed 6-17-52.)