Performance Analysis of Ageing Single-Jet Water Meters for Measuring Residential Water Consumption

Single-jet meters are one of the most frequently used domestic meters that can be found in water distribution systems. Like any other water meter technology, they have significant metrological limitations that prevent them, even if recently installed, from measuring all water consumption of a domestic customer. After installation, their metrological characteristics evolve depending on the particular design of the meters and their actual working conditions in the field. This work presents a comprehensive set of tests to determine the initial and after installation weighted error of two types of domestic single-jet water meters. Three non-linear degradation models have been derived from the tests results. These models consider age, totalised volume, or both parameters simultaneously as drivers of the weighted error. The results show that even though the construction of the two examined meters is similar, they have been working under comparable operational conditions and measuring water of the same quality, there is a significant difference in the performance between both types. This result highlights the need to conduct individual analyses for each meter type and the impossibility of generalizing conclusions on how the weighted error could evolve over time.