3/4 Inch Water Meter - Stainless Steel, Pulse Output

Can this meter be reset to Zero, locally or remotely?

Our water meters cannot be reset to zero.  But if you connect an 8 digit battery powered pulse counter, this unit can be manually reset to zero.  Or if you use an Omnimeter Pulse v.4 to count the pulses from your water meter, you can reset the pulse count data to zero in the EKM Dash software.

Do you need to have specific straight length of pipe entering or leaving the meter for accuracy?

The general rule of thumb is to have at least 10 pipe diameters in pipe length before the water meter and at least 5 pipe diameters in pipe length after the water meter.  For example if you have 1.5 inch pipe and water meter you would want 15 inches of straight pipe before your water meter and 7.5 inches of straight pipe after your water meter.  This is to achieve maximum accuracy.  If the straight pipe length before and after the meter is less than this, the water meter will still be accurate, just not as accurate if you follow the above rule.

Is this meter supported for potable water applications?

This meter does not contain any hazardous materials that would make it unsafe for use with potable water. This is one of the reasons we use stainless steel instead of brass, as brass contains lead. That being said, this meter has not received any certifications, like NSF 61, to certify it's safe to use with potable water. Please see out other water meter moddels, some of which are NSF 61 certified, if that is a requirement in your area.

I have an EKM Omnimeter v3 I use for electricity metering. Can I hook this up to that?

No, the v.3 Omnimeters are only capable of metering electricity. In order to remotely read a water meter, like this one, you would need to connect it to a v.4 Omnimeter like the Omnimeter Pulse v.4.

Can I hook this up to an Arduino or Raspberry Pi? If so, are there any documents you have on this procedure? (Thank you)

You could hook this water meter up to our Omnimeter Pulse v.4 in order to count the pulses from the water meter. The Omnimeter could then be connected to a computer or Raspberry Pi directly using our EKM Blink USB Converter. The meter can be read using our EKM Dash software or, if you're interested, you can create your own software to read the Omnimeter via RS-485. We've documented the RS-485 Protocol Here.

What is the pressure drop from the meter?

There is no pressure drop after the water exits the water meter. The pressure will be the same before and after the meter.

I\'ve noticed read errors with other pulse meters due to slight but frequent pressure changes in the line when the meter reed switch happens to be on the edge of on/off pulse. In such a case the meter oscillates slightly forward and backward causing multiple false pulses. Does your meter have some sort of mechanism to prevent that ?

I'm not aware of this happening with our meters but it sounds like your application may have some uncommon pressure variables. The pulse mechanisms in our meters contain a reed switch that is actuated by a magnet on one of the dials. It is very hard for the meter to spin backwards due to it's design but if there is enough reverse flow the pulse will increment.

Is this similar to the "old" analog water meter that I can use to replace an old analog water meter? I need to have one inside the house (horizontally) and one outside (vertically). Can I use both inside and outside and both vertical and horizontal positions? Is this lead free? How to tell if it can be used for my copper pipes (as main water meter to read water usage for billing)? Thank you.

The mechanism of our water meters is also analog like the "old" water meters that you mention. Our meters can be read off of the dials just like traditional water meters. 

These meters can be installed inside or outside. 

Our horizontal water meters must be installed horizontally with the dials facing upwards towards the sky. 

Yes, our stainless water meters are lead free.

These meter can easily be connected to copper water pipes and do not need dielectric unions to do so.

This 3/4" Water Meter has received California Type Approval which certifies that it is accurate and can be used for billing purposes.

What is the accuracy and precision of the meter?

The accuracy depends a bit on the flow rate of the water. The last page of this meter's spec sheet graphs the error curve as a function of flow rate.

I have an apartment building with 4 units. It has one water meter which is billed to me. I want to continue to have one billing from the City but I would like to monitor each unit. Could I read each meter from my office in the same building or would I be able to monitor on my computer?

Yes, you could install our water meters and our system for remote reading in order to read the water meters on a computer, either on site or over the internet. You could then use your data and our software to determine how to divide the water bill equitably. The explanation is quite long winded for this forum but this link will take you to our online Knowledge Base and an article that explains the system.

If you have any further questions send us an email with this contact form.

Can this meter be mounted vertically?

No, this meter can not be installed vertically. It must be installed horizontally with the meter dials facing up towards the sky. We offer a 3/4" Vertical Water Meter for this orientation.

For detecting a leakage situation, what is the lowest flow that the meter can reliably detect without stalling?

Officially the minimum flow rate of this meter is 1.77 ft³/hr. This meter will actually record usage for a slower rate than that but the accuracy decreases pretty significantly beyond that point. I'm not actually sure what the absolute minimum flow rate is before the dials stop spinning completely.

What method of metering is used? Are these meters resistant to contamination (e.g. sand) in the water? We normally use single jet and multi jet meters to avoid problems we have found with nutating disc meters. Thank you.

Our water meters are multi-jet meters. They are not designed specifically to be resistant to contaminants in the water, like sand or other particulates. It's advisable to use a filter or gravity trap to catch contaminants before they reach the meter or other valves. With that said, there may be little or no negative affect to having some particulate matter in the water. This would have to be a judgement call on your part as each case is different.

Will the 3/4\" horizontal water meter connection kit work with copper pipe or do I need to adapt the copper pipe? I wish to install this water meter on the main house water inlet supply which is in ground copper pipe.

There is no reason that you couldn't connect the meter directly to a copper pipe, as long as the copper pipe has 3/4" NPT threaded female pipe fittings to accept the male NPT threaded fittings that are included with the meter.

Is your flow meter is available with a register in CUBIC METER (M3)? Is 1/2\'\' is available?

No, we do not carry any meters that read in cubic meters. All of our meters read in cubic feet. The smallest size meter that we carry is 3/4". Depending on your flow rate you may be able to use a 1/2" to 3/4" adapter to be able to use this 3/4" meter.

I WANT TO USE THIS METER TO MEASURE THE AMOUNT OF WATER I AM USING FROM MY FRESH WATER TANK ON BOARD MY BOAT. IS IT ABLE TO CONTINUOUSLY TRACK MY USAGE AND HOW DO I CONVERT TO GALLONS?

Yes, this meter will continuously track the usage of water that flows through it. It natively reads in cubic feet but to convert that to gallons you simply multiply the meter's reading by 7.48. There is more information about how to read this meter and how to convert the meter's readings on the last page of it's Spec Sheet.

I need a fairly accurate meter to measure maple sap. How important is mounting it horizontal? I would like to adapt it to use with a garden hose for portable use. What problems could I encounter with this type of use?

The is no inherent reason why this meter should not be able to be portable. It should work fine with a garden hose adapter. However, having the meter horizontal, with the meter face pointed towards the sky, is very important, as the accuracy will decrease if it is positioned any other way. This is because there is an internal turbine that floats on the vertical axis. If it is out of position then the turbine will make contact with it's supports and the friction will slow the spinning of the turbine. As you can imagine this will result in artificially low meter numbers. 

Additionally, I would not recommend this meter for use with maple sap. It is designed to meter water only and that is all we can guarantee it for. With that being said, we actually do have a number of other customers using this meter for maple sap and they seem to be happy so far.

When you look at the meter are you reading pulses, gallons, or other? Can the meter be reset, perhaps on a monthly basis?

The meter reads in cubic feet. The last page of this meter's Spec Sheet explains how to read the dials on the meter. This meter also has a pulse output that creates a pulse for every 0.1 cubic foot of water that it meters. You can then connect the pulse output to our Omnimeter Pulse v.4 and EKM Push gateway to be able to read your water meter remotely. The meter itself is not resettable. This is by design to prevent tampering when the meter is being used for revenue purposes. The meter cannot be reset but if you are reading the meter remotely with our EKM Dash software, it provides a secondary pulse count register that you can reset to zero as often as you want.

How far can the Omnimeter Pulse be from the water meter?

The longer the length of wire, between the water meter and Omnimeter Pulse v.4, the greater the chance there is of pulses being lost. In general, we say that you should be fine up to 200 feet. The best practice is to use shielded wires, such as on e of the twisted pairs inside CAT5e Cable, to prevent any interference in noisy environments.

If you are unsure whether you are losing pulses due to a long run of wire, you can always check the dials of the water meter against your pulse count total and see if the values match. The delta between the two values should at least be a number that you're ok with.

I would like to add this on an outdoor water tank in Alaska. Does the meter have a minimum operating temperature?

Officially this water meter's rated temperature range is 32–104°F. What this really means for you is that the meter needs to be kept above freezing. Water cannot be allowed to freeze inside the meter, just as it should not be allowed to freeze inside your water pipes. All water meters need to be protected from freezing in locations where the temperature dictates it. To prevent freezing water meters can be installed indoors or where the temperature is controlled to not drop below freezing, or they can be insulated and/or buried below the frost line. In your case, installing the meter on a water tank, it sounds like you would need to insulate and/or burry the meter in order to protect it.

I need a 3/4" submetering water meter with a read-out in liters or cubic meters, max flow 12 USGPM, max pressure 70 PSI. Do you have such a meter?

All of our water meter models read in Cubic Feet. So it is a matter of using a multiplier to convert to liters (x 28.3168) or cubic meters (x 0.0283168). If you set up the water meter to be read remotely, our EKM Dash software or EKM Widget can make these conversions automatically.

Our 3/4" Water Meter has a max flow rate of 176.5 ft³/hr (22 USGPM) and a max pressure of 140 psi.

Click this link to download the SPWM-075-CF Spec Sheet for detailed specs.

What length of straight pipe is recommended before the meter?

It is best practice to add a length of straight pipe before the inlet of the meter that is 10x the diameter of the water meter inlet (3/4"). Also add a straight pipe after the meter that is 5x the diameter of the outlet (3/4").

So for this meter it would be a 7.5" piece of pipe before the inlet and a 3.75" piece after the outlet.

These straight pieces of pipe marginally increase the accuracy of the meter but are not considered critical to it's function.

Who verifies your product and what labels do they have like CSA or CUL?

These meters are now certified to be Type Approved by the California Department of Weights and Measures for revenue grade metering. Our 1.0" Water Meter has also received Type Approval.

I'd like to use this to monitor my irrigation system water usage in the Palm Springs area where the temperatures often exceed the 104 degree temp spec. Do you have a higher temperature model and do you feel this meter would be appropriate for that usage?

The temperature range for this meter is 32–104°F, so if your water temperature exceeds this temperature then this meter is not suitable. The 3/4" Hot Water Meter has a temperature range of 32–165°F which may be better for your needs. However, it is important to consider that even though the ambient temperature of Palm Springs exceeds 104°F that your water temperature is probably less than this. If that is the case, then this meter will work well for your needs.

can the meters be changed to read in m3 ?

Our water meters cannot be physically changed to measure water in cubic meters (m3), they read in cubic feet.  But if you use our software solutions, we can easily convert the pulse output from our water meters into cubic meters, litres, gallons, etc

If you connect your water meter to an Omnimeter Pulse v.4, then read the Omnimeter Pulse v.4 with either the EKM Dash or the EKM Push system, you can convert the pulse counts using either the EKM Dash software, or www.encompass.io 

https://help.ekmmetering.com/support/solutions/articles/6000068942-do-you-have-water-meters-that-read-in-gallons-
https://help.ekmmetering.com/support/solutions/articles/6000070256-how-to-set-up-pulse-counting-video-

Will this pulse reader https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071XDGWF9?th=1 work with SPWM-075-CF? If not, do you have an inexpensive way to read this meter in the house that is not some elaborate wifi reader?

Yes, I imagine that that pulse counter would work, but we used to source some that looked very similar and we stopped because of way too many quality issues with the battery (they would often just quit after a few months).  So now we offer this 8 digit battery powered Pulse Counter that we are very happy with and have not had any quality issues:  https://www.ekmmetering.com/collections/accessories/products/8-digit-pulse-counter

Do you offer a replacement connector for the wiring? Mine seems to be no longer working.

Yes, we do have some replacement pulse output reed switch modules for each of our water meter models in stock.  Please email us with details about your situation including your water meter model (SPWM-075 or SPWM-075-HD for example).  We should be able to ship you a new pulse output reed switch module right away.

Does the system work with Yardi?

If Yardi is able to work with pulse outputs, then yes this will work.  Also, I do know that Yardi works with our EKM Push data system and encompass.io, so if you were to connect your water meter to the internet via an Omnimeter Pulse v.4 and an EKM Push gateway, then Yardi would be able to access your data online (if you gave them your EKM Push key).  Just to make sure, it may be better to ask Yardi how they would prefer to access your pulse output data from your EKM Water Meter.

I have to hook up to 3/4 sch 40 PVC it looks like the 3/4 meter has 3/4 FTP inlet, outlet and did I miss it, I need the physical dimensions of the 3/4 meter. thanks al

Our SPWM-075-CF has 3/4" NPT male threaded fittings. Check out the spec sheet for all dimensions and details.

What is the maximum operating temperature for this water meter?

The rated temperature range for this meter is 0-40ºC / 32-104ºF. So the maximum operating temperature is 40ºC / 104ºF.