Understanding Your Water Meter

The water meter outside your home measures the volume of water you use. It’s important to know a few things about your meter when monitoring your usage or detecting leaks. There are different models of water meters, but typically on the Jackson Energy Authority system they are dial displays. The dial display should have numbers from 0-9 with an odometer-style window, a sweep hand and small red or blue triangle. The large sweep hand measure water use in gallons and as the sweep hand moves from one number to the next, one gallon of water passes through the meter. A complete rotation of the sweep hand equals 10 gallons.

Meter Responsibility

Not everything at the water meter is the responsibility of Jackson Energy Authority. As seen below, water meters have many parts:

A. JEA Service Line
B. Shutoff Valve
C. Meter
D. Face Cover
E. Meter Face
F. Customer Water Line

Everything downstream of the meter, indicated by the blue line, is the responsibility of JEA. Everything upstream of the meter, indicated by the yellow line, is the responsibility of the homeowner/customer.

In the event of an emergency such as busted pipes or post-natural disaster, it’s important to know how to turn off the water at the meter.

• Insert a small rod or flat-head screwdriver into the small hole on the lid of the water meter box and lift carefully as it could be heavy
• Remove any dirt or debris covering the meter or piping
• Locate the shutoff valve on the piping (on the side of the meter facing the street)
• Use an adjustable wrench, your hand or tool to turn the valve clockwise