The behavior of meters in water flow with sediment: experimental design and testing

In Mexico, an important amount of water used for irrigation is extracted from deep wells. Frequently, the measurement of this water is made by meters whose movable components are in direct contact with the flow. If the water contains sediments, the meters present operation failures; however, which parts fail or how is largely unknown. It is frequently thought that the movable parts, such as propellers or turbines, are worn down by the friction of solid particles, but this has not been proven yet. In order to have a better understanding of these failures, a test installation was designed and built with several meters placed under flow with sediment conditions. This paper presents the characteristics of the test installation, the different construction stages, and test details and results. One important conclusion is that the parts of the meters which were being damaged the most were not the movable components, but the supports and bearings.