Section 13.04.160 Meter regulations.
All water services connected to the public water system shall have a water meter installed for the
purpose of accurate measurement of the volume of water used through the water service.
A. The department shall own, rent or lease, and shall maintain and operate all
meters and
equipment necessary for the regulation and accurate measurement of water usage.
B. The department shall assess against each owner using the public water system
the actual cost
of meters and equipment, including readout, couplings, meter pits and all connections, plus a ten
percent (10%) administration fee. Each owner shall pay the assessed amount within thirty (30)
days of installation.
C. Owners shall allow access for meter installation, inspections, maintenance
or replacement
upon forty-eight (48) hour notice by the director of public works or designee.
D. Water service shall be terminated if the owner refuses to allow access or
otherwise fails to
fully cooperate in installation, maintenance or replacement of water meters, or if the owner fails
to timely pay amounts due.
E. The director of public works or designee shall determine the type and size
of each water
meter to be installed.
F. The water meter shall be installed according to the manufacturer’ s specifications
and where
it is easily accessible for reading, maintenance, replacement, inspection and repair.
G. Meter pits shall be installed outside any building when the director of public
works
determines that a regular meter installation cannot be reasonably accomplished,
H. The water usage shall be determined from a master water meter provided, by
the city.
Secondary meters may be purchased from the department for the convenience of the owner, as in
apartment houses or multi-plexes, at the owner’ s request and expense. The department shall
issue one bill for the water supplied and used. All secondary meters shall be installed in a manner
so that all water supplied passes through the master meter prior to passing through the secondary
meter. Secondary meters shall not be read or billed separately.
I. The owner shall protect meters from frost or other damage. Owners and users
may not
tamper with meters nor permit others to do so. If the meter seal is broken, working parts have
been tampered with, or time meter damaged, the owner shall be assessed with the full cost of
repairing or replacing the meter.
J. The department shall normally read meters each month. In no instance shall
a meter be read
less often than once in a two month period.
K. An owner may request that the meter be removed and tested for accuracy. If
the meter is
found to be recording within two percent accuracy, the cost of removal, testing, and replacing
shall be borne by the owner. If the meter is found to be recording incorrectly (greater than two
percent error) the cost of removal, testing, and replacing shall be borne by the department.
L. When a meter fails to correctly record water usage for any period, the department
shall
average usage for the three-month period immediately proceeding and following the period when
the meter was found defective, to determine the amount of water used during that time.
M. Each year the department shall test a random sampling of the meters in service for accuracy
of recording. If any meter is found to have an average error of more than two percent the director
of public works shall authorize a refund for any overcharge and the owner shall be assessed any
undercharge for a period no more than three months, based on the corrected reading, unless the
overcharge or undercharges are attributable to a cause for which a date can be determined, and in
which event, the overcharge or undercharge shall be computed back to but not beyond such date.
(Ord. 215 (part), 2003: Ord 111 (part), 1996; prior code § 4.01.100)
