As pressure changes in the water main the pressure will equalize in your house causing the meter to fluctuate a bit back and forth.
Water meter leak indicator going back and forth.
I think it is water pressure fluctuations in the system.
Do you have a pressure reducing valve prv.
It could be on the city side and if that is the case then you won t be charged.
I looked at the meter next to it just for comparison it was stopped and steady.
So if there is a pressure build up from the street it would force water into the house and then the wheel would go backwards as the pressure equalizes.
Is the only cause of this a leak somewhere.
That said i ve never seen it happen quite that much.
I recently noticed that the red triangle on the face of my water meter was moving back and forth by about 3 4 of a revolution.
I didn t have any fixtures etc turned on while this was happening.
Then when the pressure decreases water flows out.
When the pressure drops then the excess pressure in your system flows backwards again to equalize the pressures which makes the dial tick backwards.
Each time it moved forward backwards forward it ended up a little past where it was.
Thursday june 21 2018 most water meters have a leak detection spinner in the shape of a triangle star or arrow that can show low level water flow.
There are several external signs that you can look for around your water meter to determine if you have a leak.
Backflow can occur due to either back pressure or back siphonage which are essentially too high or too low of pressure in the system.
If it twists slowly back and forth that can be caused by fluctuations in water pressure and is not a leak indicator.
Today i saw something new.
If the meter is installed backwards the meter will do that.
When the pressure rises more water is forced into the home.
If it is moving forward clockwise there is water flow.
Backflow is when water flows incorrectly in the wrong direction.
I have seen the flow indicator on older mechanical meters show a back and forth surging so i would say it s normal.
If the leak indicator or dial hand is still rotating then water is flowing somewhere between the meter and the shut off valve.
That means there is a leak between your water meter and your side of the shut off valve.
You ll often see this when someone on your block turns on their sprinkler system or a fire hydrant is opened.
When the pressure increases some water goes into your system to equalize the pressure which makes the dial tick forward.
The flow needle was turning slowly forward then backwards stopping then forward then backwards and stopping it just kept doing that.
I m not saying it is backwards just that it will act like that if there are pressure changes.
On my inspections i always look at the water meter to see if the flow needle is stopped when all the water is off in the home.
So we are now back to the meter face now check if the meter s leak detector hand is moving.
