604 



EVERYDAY SCIENCE 



the amount of water a consumer uses. In other cities water is 

 sold at so much per 1000 gallons, and the quantity used by 

 each consumer is measured by a meter on the consumer's premises. 

 Water-meters are pretty accurate instruments. If they are out of 

 order, they are most likely to record less water than is actually used. 

 It is convenient to know how to read the dial of your water- 

 meter. If it is a direct-reading dial, no instruction is needed. Most 



water-dials, however, are like the 

 dial shown in Figure 18, and re- 

 quire some explanation. 



On this dial the unit of meas- 

 urement is the cubic foot. The 

 hands revolve about circles. The 

 numbering on each circle indicates 

 the direction the hand of that 

 circle travels. On the dial shown 

 in Figure 18, the hands in the 

 100,000, 1000, and 10 circles 

 travel contrary to the hands of a 

 clock . The alternate hands travel 

 in the direction of clock-hands. 

 The number on the outside of 



FIGURE 18. DIAL OF WATER- 



METER . 01 cubic feet recorded for one 



complete revolution of the hand. 



Each circle has 10 divisions ; each division thus indicates -fa of the 

 total for the circle. (In reading the dial, pay no attention to the 

 circle measuring 1 foot. It is used for test purposes, as will be 

 explained later.) 



The reading of the dial in Figure 18 is as follows : 



1st hand shows r V of 100,000, or 10,000 cu. ft. 

 2d hand shows T V of 10,000, or 1,000 cu. ft. 

 3d hand shows & of 1,000, or 800 cu. ft. 

 4th hand shows A of 100, or 60 cu. ft. 

 5th hand shows T 7 ff of 10, or 7 cu. ft. 



