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According to the adopted law, all homeowners must install water meters in their homes. Deadlines are constantly shifting, but sooner or later they will have to be set. There are a decent number of organizations that can do this for you. For a fee, of course. Some operational campaigns offer to do this for free and are even ready to provide a counter. But the bills for these water meters are cosmic – the figures are too high. Therefore, installing water meters with your own hands is the best way out if you do not want to pay the company for services.
Profitable or not
You don’t have to think about whether you need a water meter or not – a law has been passed according to which everyone is required to install it. But many are wondering how profitable it is. If the apartment is home to as many people as registered or less, installing a meter is beneficial. It is also beneficial if, say, someone moves to a dacha for the summer or spends a vacation there. If the situation is diametrically opposite – fewer people are registered than live, it is not profitable for you to put a counter. But there is no getting away from this.
How big the savings will be with permanent residence depends on the calculation method adopted in your management campaign and how intensively you use water. At a minimum, you will save about 30%, but there were cases when payments after installation decreased significantly. This may be if the house has a common meter. In this case, based on the results of the month, the consumption of those residents who have meters installed is deducted from the total readings, and the remainder is divided among the remaining apartments according to the number of registered people. Usually, counters are not set by those who actually have more people living than prescribed. In this case, the monthly consumption per person can be 8-10 cubic meters of cold and about the same amount of hot water. In fact, even if you do not save much, it turns out about 3 cubes of cold and 2 hot. So it really does make sense.
Install on your own 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. The installed water meters are sealed by representatives of the water utility or the DEZ free of charge.
Self-installation procedure
Self-installation of water meters is possible. Nobody should object. You just have to do everything with your own hands – and install the meter, and call the representative of the Housing Office to seal it. What you need:
- purchase a meter and all the necessary details;
- agree and pay for the disconnection of the cold / hot water riser (contact the operational campaign, set the date and time);
- install a meter, turn on the water;
- call a representative of the water utility or DEZ (in different regions in different ways) to seal it, get the commissioning certificate in hand;
- go with the act and passport of the meter (there must be a serial number, a stamp of the store, the date of factory verification) to the DEZ and register the water meter.
Self-installation of water meters is not prohibited
All papers are considered, a standard contract is filled out, you sign it, on this it is considered that you pay for water according to 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 company that installs water meters: take a list in the DEZ or find it on the Internet yourself. The list will already include firms that have licenses, but obviously not all that work in this area. On the Internet, it is necessary to check the availability of a license. A copy of it must be posted on the site.
Then, in any case, you should read the standard contract that the company will conclude with you. It should contain a complete list of services. The conditions can be different – someone provides their counter, someone puts yours, someone comes with their spare parts, someone works with what the owner has. By combining the list of services provided and make a choice.
Previously, the contract contained a clause on service maintenance, and without it, firms did not want to install meters. Today, this item has been declared illegal, since it is not necessary to actually service the meter, and it should not be in the clause, and if there is, you have the right to refuse these services and not pay for them.
How to choose polypropylene pipes read here.
Preparing for installation
If you have chosen a different campaign, you must leave them an application. There are two options – some firms accept applications on their website and may even offer a discount for this, while others prefer to see you in the office and sign an agreement.
In any case, first a campaign representative arrives (you agree on the date and time of arrival), inspects the “field of activity”, assesses the condition of the pipes, takes measurements, and often takes photos of communications. All this is necessary in order to be able to develop a meter connection diagram 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 is negotiating the shutdown of the risers with the operational campaign. Normal firms take it upon themselves.
Installation of water meters by campaign representatives
At the appointed time, a campaign representative (sometimes two) arrives and does the work. In theory, they should agree with you what and how to put, but this does not always happen. At the end of the work (usually takes about 2 hours), they give you a certificate of completion and a special paper on which the factory numbers of the metering devices are written. After that, you must call a representative of the govodokanal or DEZ to seal the meter (different organizations deal with this in different regions). The sealing of counters is a free service, you will only need to agree on the time.
In the act that you were given during installation, the initial readings of the meter must be entered (they are different from zero, since the device is verified at the factory). With this act, a photocopy of the organization’s license and your water meter’s passport, you go to the DEZ, sign a standard contract.
How to transfer data
You will need to submit monthly actual consumption data. In different regions, the procedure is implemented in different ways, but basically there are several ways:
- leaflets torn off and filled out from the subscriber book are lowered into special boxes;
- leave data in the personal account on the website of the water supply organization;
- send e-mails with testimonies to a special address of the organization.
There may be other ways – each water utility or DEZ develops them on its own. If there are several ways, you choose the one that is easier for you.
Water meter installation diagram
It doesn’t matter whether you install the meter through a company or do it yourself, 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 a water meter
They put meters immediately after the riser in a straight section to the first branch to plumbing fixtures. There are water meters, the installation of which is possible only in a horizontal position, there are models with the possibility of vertical installation. Just keep in mind that in a horizontal position, the accuracy of the device is higher than in a vertical one and it is not a fact that it will count less. So it is highly desirable to find a way to put it “lying”.
What and why should be in the scheme
The standard scheme for installing a water meter looks like this:
- a ball valve is screwed onto the pipe coming from the riser,
- a coarse filter is installed,
- counter;
- further wiring.
Installation of water meters with a minimum number of elements
Now more about what each element is needed for.
A ball shut-off valve is needed to turn off the water if necessary – fix the mixer, clean the filter, change the meter, etc. Therefore, its presence is mandatory. It must be placed so that it is convenient to turn the valve.
The coarse filter captures the largest particles that are in the water supply. It must be placed so that the outlet is directed downwards. Otherwise, it will clog up quickly.
All these elements most often have an internal thread. So that they can be connected to each other, connecting elements are used, which are often called “drives”. They have external threads on both sides and a small section of a flat pipe (in some cases, only a few millimeters at all). With their help, everything is connected to each other.
What are the water filters and how to get clean water read here.
Optional Schema Elements
Often a check valve is placed after the counter. It is required so that in the absence of analysis, the water does not go in the opposite direction. It also eliminates the increase in reading in the presence of unstable pressure.
He also 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), a shower cabin with cheap faucets. They do not have non-return valves and such overflow is possible.
If the pressure of cold water is higher than hot water, then cold water reduces the temperature of the hot water supply, and in the opposite situation, hot water can flow from the cold water tap. Therefore, the installation of a check valve for both cold and hot water is highly desirable, but not required.
Sometimes, after the check valve, it is recommended to install another shut-off valve. It is needed so that when removing the meter or when cleaning the same filter, water from the pipes in the apartment does not drain to the floor. In principle, you can substitute a container, but this is not always possible. There are about 6 liters of water in the pipes of an ordinary apartment, collecting from the floor is not the most pleasant experience. But this strapping element is placed or not at the request of the owner.
There is another device that can be installed – a pressure reducer. It stabilizes the pressure in the system, extending the “life” of all household appliances and faucets / faucets. Placed after the coarse filter. Not the cheapest thing, but very useful.
How to choose a filter for a 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 matches the number stamped on the water meter. The device must also bear a sign that it has been certified. The passport must have a stamp with the date of factory verification. The “fresher” the date, the better – the more likely it is that you will not be forced to verify it before installation. Another necessary detail is a store record of the sale with a seal. In the event of a meter malfunction, you will be issued an act with which you can demand its replacement.
It is also very desirable that the factory verification date be “fresher” – you will not have to carry the device for verification longer.
Mounting Features
When installing water meters, all threaded connections must be sealed – the pressure in the lines is serious. For this, linen winding or fum tape is used. If you use winding, winding it on the thread, it is advisable 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 – microcracks may appear, which will then lead to leakage of the connection.
If you have steel pipes coming from the outlet of the riser, you will need welding or a grinder to cut off a piece that is now unnecessary. You will also need to cut the thread at the end of the pipe (if not) – this is the only way to connect the stopcock. On the reverse side, the situation is the same – either a transition fitting or threading is required.
Flow direction
When assembling all parts, please note that there is an arrow on the body of each. It may not be except on a ball valve, since it does not matter to him in which direction to pass water. Although, if installed incorrectly, you will have to turn the knob in the other direction, but this is not fatal. For other devices – a meter, a filter, a check valve and a reducer – the direction of flow is critical. Therefore, when assembling, set them so that the flow of water 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 have the cheapest and possibly low-quality part. If possible, it is better to replace it with a normal one, if not, find out the direction of the flow yourself, having examined the structure, you can understand where the flow should go.
As you can see, installing water meters with your own hands is real, but there are a fairly large number of features. And one more thing: when you agree on turning off the risers, ask not for two hours, but rather for four. And pre-assemble 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, spend the maximum preparation. In this case, self-installation of water meters will take place with a minimum of hassle.