How to install a water meter in an apartment

According to the adopted law, all homeowners must install water meters. The deadlines are constantly being pushed back, but you will have to install them sooner or later. There are a decent number of organizations that can do it for you. For a fee, of course. Some maintenance companies offer to do it for free and are even ready to provide a meter. But only the bills on these water meters come cosmic – too large indicators. Therefore, installing water meters with your own hands is the best way out of the situation, if you do not want to pay a firm for services.

Profitable or not

To ponder whether you need a water meter or not is no longer necessary – the law has been adopted, according to which to put it is obliged to all. But many people wonder how profitable it is. If the apartment is inhabited by as many people as registered or less, the installation of the meter is beneficial. It is also beneficial if, say, someone moves to a summer cottage or spends a vacation there. If the situation is diametrically opposite – the number of people registered is less than the number of people living there, it is not profitable for you to install a meter. But you can’t get away from it.

How big the savings will be in case of permanent residence depends on the method of calculation adopted by your management company and how intensively you use water. Minimally you will save about 30%, but there have been cases when payments after installation are reduced many times. This may be the case if the house has a common metering device. In this case, according to the results of the month, from the total readings deducted the consumption of those residents who have installed meters, and the remainder is divided among the remaining apartments according to the number of people registered. Usually, those who actually have more people living in their apartments than are registered do not install meters. In this case, the monthly consumption per person can be 8-10 cubic meters of cold water and the same amount of hot water. In reality, even if you do not particularly save, it turns out about 3 cubes of cold and 2 hot. So it really makes sense.

Should I install it myself or through a company?

Under current legislation, the installation of water meters is at the expense of the homeowner. That is, you must buy a meter, install it at your own expense. Seal the installed water meters representatives of the water utility or DEZ free of charge.

Procedure for independent installation

Self-installation of water meters is possible. No one should not object. You only have to do everything with your own hands – and put the meter, and call a representative of the housing and utility company to seal it. What you need:

All papers are considered, a standard contract is filled out, you sign it, on this it is considered that you pay for water by the meter.

How to choose a water meter read here.

How to hire a good firm and what they should do

There are two ways to find a firm that is engaged in the installation of water meters: take a list in the DEZ or find on the Internet yourself. In the list will be exactly the firms that have licenses, but clearly not all that work in this area. On the Internet, you must be sure to check the presence of a license. Its copy should be posted on the site.

Then in any case you should read the standard contract, which will conclude with you the company. It should spell out the full list of services. Conditions can be different – someone provides his meter, someone puts your meter, someone comes with his own parts, someone works with what the owner has. According to the combination of the list of services provided and make a choice.

There used to be a service clause in the contract, and without it, companies did not want to install meters. Today, this clause is recognized as illegal, as it is not necessary to actually service the meter, and it should not be in the agreement, and if it is, you have the right to refuse these services and not pay for them.

How to choose pipes from polypropylene read here.

Preparing for installation

If you have stopped your choice not some campaign, you must leave them an application. There are two options – some firms accept applications on their website and can even offer a discount for this, while others prefer to see you in the office and sign a contract.

In any case, first comes a representative of the company (you agree on the date and time of arrival), inspects the “field of activity”, assesses the condition of the pipes, takes measurements, often takes photos of communications. All this is necessary in order to be able to develop a scheme for connecting the meter and quickly assemble it. Then you should call and clarify the date and time of installation of the water meter. In this conversation, you need to find out who arranges the disconnection of risers with the operating company. Normal firms take care of this.

Installation of water meters by representatives of the campaign

At the appointed time, a representative of the campaign (sometimes two) come and do the work. Ideally, they should agree with you what and how to put, but this is not always the case. Upon completion of the work (usually takes about 2 hours), they give you an act of completed work and a special paper on which the factory numbers of metering devices are written. After that, you must call a representative of govodokanal or DEZ for sealing the meter (in different regions this is done by different organizations). Sealing of meters is free of charge, you only need to agree on the time.

In the act that you were given during installation, the initial meter readings should be set (they differ from zero, as the device is verified at the factory). With this act, a photocopy of the license of the organization and the passport of your water meter, you go to the DEZ, sign a standard contract.

How to transmit data

You will need to transfer data on actual consumption on a monthly basis. In different regions, the procedure is implemented differently, but basically there are several ways:

• torn off and filled in from the subscriber’s book leaflets are dropped into special boxes;
• leave data in a personal account on the website of the water supply organization;
• send e-mails with readings to a special address of the organization.

There may be other ways – each water utility or DEZ develops them themselves. If there are several ways, you choose the one that is easier for you.

Scheme of water meter installation

It does not matter whether you will install the meter through a company or with your own hands, you need to know how the correct scheme should look like – it is very desirable to control the process.

Where and how to put: choosing a place for the water meter

Put counters immediately after the riser on a straight section to the first branch to the plumbing fixtures. There are water meters whose installation is possible only in a horizontal position, there are models with the possibility of vertical installation. Only it should be borne in mind that in the horizontal position the accuracy of the device is higher than in the vertical and not the fact that it will count less. So it is very desirable to find a way to put it “lying down”.

What and why should be in the scheme

The standard scheme for installing a water meter looks like this:

Now more about what each element is necessary for.

Ball shut-off valve is needed to turn off the water in case of need – to fix the faucet, clean the filter, change the meter, etc. Therefore, its presence is mandatory. It should be placed in such a way that it is convenient to turn the valve.

The coarse filter captures the largest particles that are in the water supply. It should be placed so that the outlet is directed downward. Otherwise, it will quickly become clogged.

All these elements most often have an internal thread. To be able to connect them to each other, they use connecting elements, which are often called “bends”. They have an external thread on both sides and a small section of flat pipe (in some versions only a few millimeters). with their help, everything is connected to each other.

What are water filters and how to get clean water read here.

Optional elements of the scheme

Often after the meter put a check valve. It is required to ensure that in the absence of discharge water does not go in the opposite direction. It also excludes an increase in the reading in the presence of unstable pressure.

It cuts off two more unpleasant situations: and does not allow cold water to flow from one pipeline to another. This happens if someone has a hygienic shower installed on the riser (on the toilet or bidet), shower cabin with cheap faucets. In them, check valves are not provided and such overflow is possible.

If the pressure of cold water is higher than hot water, the cold water reduces the DHW temperature, and in the reverse situation from the cold water faucet can go hot. Therefore, the installation of a check valve on both cold and hot water is highly desirable, but not mandatory.

Sometimes after the check valve it is recommended to put one more shut-off valve. It is needed to remove the counter or when cleaning the same filter, water from the pipes in the apartment is not drained to the floor. In principle, you can put a container, but it is not always possible. Water in the pipes of an ordinary apartment about 6 liters, from the floor to collect – not the most pleasant occupation. But this element of piping is put or not at the will of the owner.

There is another device that can be installed – a pressure reducer. It stabilizes the pressure in the system, prolonging the “life” of all household appliances and faucets/faucets. It is placed after the coarse filter. Not the cheapest thingy, but very useful.

How to choose a filter under the sink for drinking water read here.

Some subtleties and nuances

When buying a meter, you need to make sure that the number in the passport coincides with the number stamped on the water meter. The meter should also bear a sign that it has been certified. The passport should have a stamp with the date of factory verification. The “fresher” the date, the better – more likely that you will not be forced to verify it before installation. Another necessary detail is the store’s record of sale with a stamp. In case of meter malfunction, you will be given a certificate, with which you can demand its replacement.

It is also very desirable that the date of factory verification was “fresher” – you will not have to carry the device for verification longer.

Peculiarities of installation

When installing water meters, all threaded connections should be sealed – the pressure in the mains is not serious. For this purpose, linen winding or fum-tape is used. If you use linen winding on the thread, it is desirable to lubricate it with packing paste – it will be easier to work. Fum-tape does not need lubrication, it is elastic itself.

One important point: when tightening the connections, do not use excessive force – micro cracks may appear, which will then lead to leakage of the connection.

If you have steel pipes coming from the riser outlet, you will need a welder or a bolt cutter to cut off the now unnecessary piece. You will also need to cut the thread on the end of the spigot (if there is none) – only in this way you can connect the shut-off valve. The reverse side is the same – you will need either an adapter fitting or threading.

Direction of flow

When assembling all the parts, pay attention to the fact that there is an arrow on the body of each part. It may not be except for the ball valve, since it does not care in which direction to pass water. Although, if installed incorrectly, you will have to turn the handle in the other direction, but this is not fatal. For other devices – meter, filter, check valve and reducer – the direction of flow is critical. Therefore, when assembling them, set them so that the water flow goes in the direction of the arrow. This is really important.

If there is no arrow on the body of the listed parts, most likely you are facing the cheapest and possibly low-quality part. If there is a possibility, it is better to replace it with a normal one, if not, find out the direction of the flow yourself, by looking at the structure you can understand where the flow should move.

As you can see, the installation of water meters with their own hands is real, but there are quite a large number of peculiarities. And one more thing: when you agree to disconnect the risers, ask not two hours, but better four. And preassemble everything without winding, measure the length, figure out where and how to place everything, draw where you cut, weld, put retaining clips (if the pipeline is made of polypropylene), etc. In general, do the maximum amount of preparation. In this case, the independent installation of water meters will pass with a minimum of nervousness.

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