Water meter deltas

[Bain]

Does anyone else check them to make certain the water line from the meter to the house is intact?

[hausdok]

I don't see what useful information you'd get. It wouldn't reveal a pin hole or a pipe with oozing scabs and a pipe with a pinhole leak probably won't have a whole lot of temp difference so what's the point?

OT - OF!!!

M.

[kurt]

I don't understand how anyone could determine condition of the water service without digging up the yard. Is there someone "testing" water service pipe now?

[homnspector]

If the house is on municipal water, I always check the meter when everything is off. I have found many leaks that way. Ths little triangle, or delta as you call it will certainly turn, even with a toilet flapper leak.

Edit: I have also had buyers move in and find there was a major leak in the main line (2x). I was really glad at those times I had checked the meter for movement and documented it in the report.

[Bain]

Dittos to Fritz.

[kurt]

This is interesting; the majority of properties I look at don't even have a meter. Free water is a remnant of the original Mayor Daley; whole big bunches of Chicago neighborhoods don't have meters. There's one neighborhood on the Northwest side that has meters, because they were Republican & anti-Daley back in the day.

Because I don't think about meters much, I don't look @ them for movement when I do see them. I think I'm gonna start looking harder.

[homnspector]

If you don't have a meter, a leak in the main line doesn't really matter.[:-clover]

[swarga]

Kurt doesn't have meters because they have water to spare. (I still don't know why they insist on being the "Big Dirty")

Here in AZ we are 6-7 years into a drought, water is precious. So, we charge by the gallon, in the stores it is more expensive than gas.

However we have learned to recycle our water. We treat it and use it.

We have all of those golf courses to keep green.

Anything that is left over we sent to Camp Verde. Sorry Fritz.[]

[homnspector]

Nobody in Phoenix (except maybe you) is worried about water. Water is cheap when you STEAL IT from the source.[:-weepn]. Do you know SRP in the 60's cut down all the cottonwood trees along the Verde because they used too much water?? Man, you gotta wonder how much this state can grow before this becomes a limiting factor

[hausdok]

Oh,

Okay, now I understand. You were referring to the little triangle-shaped spinner. Yes, I look at that sometimes, but only when there's some other overt clue that something is amiss. The water companies here are really good about warning folks when they have odd-ball water usage. I'll leave it to them to inform the owners because I can't see what's below grade anyway.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[homnspector]

Here, thewater co. lets them know when the water bill is $300. No exagerration.

[swarga]

Always check the meter before I even knock on the front door. If it is spinning I ask them to turn off anything that is using water for a few minutes.

If it is locked off or missing I call the client and tell them to reschedule the inspection when the utilities are on. My agreement states that I get paid 50% of my inspection fee if the home is not ready to inspect when I arrive.

(Side Note)

Fritz is correct, the Phoenix area does not have enough water, most of the experts say we will be in big trouble in about 10 years, the fissures are popping up on a daily basis.

the ground level between Phoenix and Tucson has dropped 6 inches in the last 15 years due to the excessive ground water pumping. [:-banghea

Failing to plan is planning to fail, I plan on leaving this state in about 6 years, My kids will be out of school and the stuff will hit the fan a couple of years latter.

Maybe I can move to the big dirty and show them how to use soap.

[Bain]

I only find one or two faulty lines per year, but oftentimes a line is beneath a concrete driveway and locating and repairing the leak can be quite expensive.

[Chad Fabry]

The water meters here are inside the structure and would only indicate a leak inside the house. Most are electronic and click off 1 gallon increments. I'm not staring at a digital display waiting for a gallon to click off from a leaky toilet flapper.

[kurt]

We should start a new thread on water politics; it's a personal fascination of mine.

Anyone here ever read "Cadillac Desert? It's an absolutely spellbinding book about the water politics that created the modern American SW. The rapacity & evil actions of Mulholland, the Water Act of the 80's, and all that are spun out in detail. Did anyone here know that more water evaporates off of golf courses in Phoenix & Vegas than was promised to the Mexicans when the Colorado River was divvied up?

Phoenix has monstrous problems right now; 10 years is when the shit that is already in the fan causes the fan blades to shear off & fly around hitting people along w/the shit. Supposedly, the engineering is already complete & the plans are waiting over @ Bechtel for Great Lakes water to be diverted to the SW. The GL's states are already circling the wagons to create legislation that makes that either impossible, or very expensive.

Any way you cut it, folks can't live in a desert w/inappropriate architecture, and that's the only kind of architecture that's out there. Should be interesting to watch.

[swarga]

I knew if I said I was going to the "Big Dirty" Kurt would get involved.

As usual Kurt is correct.