Helo with how a Neptune E-Coder R900 water meter works

[RWestman]

I am new to this forum and I am asking for help to learn how a Neptune E-Coder R900 water works.

I have asked some questions directly to the company, but when I began to ask some pointed questions about the water usage feature.

Here is my basic question:

I live at an association which has its own water plant. We are charged for 3K gallons of water even if we only use 1,000 gallons.

Based on the above:

If the beginning of the month reading is 30,000 and I use 1,000 gallons of water I am charged for 3,000 gallons.

1. How does the meter know to adjust itself to start the next month at 33,000?
2. How does the meter know the meter has been read and KNOWS it is okay to adjust the meter reading to the 33,000 reading?

I can understand all this if the person reading the meters sends a signal to the R900 telling it to send the current meter reading and then also authorizes the meter to self-adjust to the 33,000.

Can anyone help me or point me in the right direction to understand this?

Thank you,

Ron

 

[Chris]

The only thing I can think of is that they are keeping a meter reading every month like a normal district would and just billing you for a minimum service if it does not exceed the 3,000 mark and if it does then they bill accordingly. I doubt they would actually adjust a meter.

 

[RWestman]

How would the meter know that the person has driven by to take the electronic meter reading?
If the person normally takes the reading on the 18th of the month, but for some reason the reading is taken on the 21st (3 days late) how would the meter know to hold the reading? Or would the meter just automatically store the last month reading and begin a new month.

 

[RWestman]

Does anyone have experience with this make and model of meters?

 

[Chris]

The water districts i work with would just bill you for what the meter said on the day they read it whether it was on time or a few days late. I work with water districts just about everyday and I install these meters all the time but personally do not know exactly how your place is using it. All that the the electronic readers that I have installed do is send a signal telling a computer on the other end what the actual dial on the meter is saying which can only be changed by water flow due to them having a pinwheel inside them to do the reading. Go out to your meter box and open it up, if the gallons/cubic foot meter is not digital then I can almost guarantee that there is no way for them to change what the meter says. I would bet a dollar that when they read the meter and if the use was less than their minimum they just bill you for the 3,000 gallons and do nothing with the meter except read it next month.

Also the meter does not know that they have taken the reading, it just sends out a signal and when they drive by or decide to accept it is when the computer reads the signal. Those meters are not as fancy as one would think, it is the computer on the other end that does the work.

 

[Chris]

Just looked up your meter and it transmits every 14 seconds to send the info of the meter out to the computer.


Here is a little info from Neptune on that meter.

Neptune’s extremely versatile R900® System provides utilities with a wide variety of functionalities, from mobile or handheld automatic meter reading (AMR) processes all the way to advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) using a full fixed network.

Everything from the intelligent 8-digit, high-registration E-Coder® solid state absolute encoder to the R900® meter interface units (MIUs) to the R900® Gateway data collector is designed to work together seamlessly. Neptune’s field-proven R900 radio frequency (RF) technology provides easy migration that allows utilities to build on the investments they’ve already made in the field.

Utilities who implement the R900 System routinely achieve 100-percent meter reading accuracy, daily readings, and monthly billing, along with a wealth of data including leak, tamper, and reverse flow detection. Neptune’s combination encoder/MIU, the E-Coder®)R900i™, makes installation even easier while allowing utilities to retrieve 96 days of hourly data directly from the meter and then download the information directly into N_SIGHT™ R900® host software.

The addition of R900 Gateways can gather timelier meter consumption data while providing final daily reads from for move-ins and move-outs that eliminate truck rolls when a full fixed network is in place.

And with the enhancements of N_SIGHT R900, utilities can do more than ever before with the data that makes the difference. System health screens to monitor fixed network assets at a glance. Standard and customizable reporting. Intuitive graphical representation of consumption as well as leak, tamper, and reverse flow information. And GIS mapping to identify exact locations of continuous leaks as well as reverse flow events.

 

[Chris]

Here is the cut sheet on the meter.

http://neptunetg.com/uploadedFiles/NTG-223.PS.ECODER.04.06.pdf

I still don't think they would be able or would change what the meter says as then it just wouldn't have as much as a purpose. Meters are used for a whole lot more then just billing you so if it were changed that would screw up a lot of data that they are made for.

 

[RWestman]

I want to thank everyone for their inputs....

Does anyone know for SURE if the R900 has "BOTH" a receiver and transmitter built into it? If it has a receiver then it would explain a lot of things.