Please explain this setup

[Michael Inwards]

I have not experienced nearly as many scenarios as some of you so perhaps I can be enlightened. I’m pretty sure this is the main city water entrance. I’m not familiar with seeing these controls on water…seems they are more like gas controls (shutoffs) I do not know why this splits….one branch goes directly to the water heater…the other appears to go through the exterior wall though its snowed in outside so I can not locate a faucet but I can see from inside that it is not a winterized unit so it seems it should be frozen and broken. I do not know why there are two meters and they have low voltage wires strung about them like thermostat wires. I’m learning….any light here would be cool
thanks

[James F. McKee]

where are You from Mike?....here you can get two meters one for inside use one for outside....You save sewer charges on water used outside...could this be what you are seeing....the valves you are looking at are common hi-end water valves....

[Michael Larson]

It's common to have a second meter for irrigation water in my area as their is no sewage treatment charge associated with watering one's grass.

[Jeffrey R. Jonas]

The low voltage (telephone wires) are so your water district/utilities district can read the meter without gaining entrance to the home. This may be connected to your telephone line, or a transponder on the outside of the exterior wall.

[Michael Larson]

Right you are Jeff.

[James F. McKee]

You mean Jeff finally got one right?

[rsmith24]

Top meter is for the lawn sprinklers and the bottom one is for interior fixtures.

[Jeffrey R. Jonas]

Originally Posted by jmckee

You mean Jeff finally got one right?

I do have my moments Jim!

[James F. McKee]

So from that picture how can You tell Robert?...mine is exactly opposite of what you describe allowing me to leave the water to irrigation on, but the water to the house shut off when i am out of town

[Michael Inwards]

i am in mid west MN....the freeze me state

wow thanks for all the input...so that all makes gobs of sense...two meters to avoid paying sewer on the sprinkler and some sort of hook up to read the meters by some remote means, i dig it! nobody got uptight about the shutoffs so neither will I and i cant account for how the faucet is not busted but maybe when i get a peek under the snowbank


***I forgot to ask....should all meters have a ground jump around them, or just those which know for sure are grounded in the first place. In other words....should that just be standard practice?

[rsmith24]

Originally Posted by jmckee

So from that picture how can You tell Robert?...mine is exactly opposite of what you describe allowing me to leave the water to irrigation on, but the water to the house shut off when i am out of town

The "extra" valve before the meter tells me this. The extra valve is so the meter can be removed without shutting the water off allowing it to be drained in the fall.

Why would yours be the exact opposite? That wouldn't make any sense because you could still shut the water off to the interior if you wanted without the extra valve. I think your making this up or you did the plumbing yourself.

[rsmith24]

Originally Posted by minwards

***I forgot to ask....should all meters have a ground jump around them, or just those which know for sure are grounded in the first place. In other words....should that just be standard practice?

No not all meters need a ground jump around them.

[Jeffrey R. Jonas]

Originally Posted by rsmith24

The "extra" valve before the meter tells me this. The extra valve is so the meter can be removed without shutting the water off allowing it to be drained in the fall.

Mike,
In Minnesota, this set-up (single meter) is typical. You will see it in 95% of the homes you inspect, new and old. Most always you will see a bonding jumper across the meter, whether the meter is new or old. The two valves, before and after the meter, is more for "winterizing" the home, than it is to drain the outside hose bibbs. It is rare to find a "sprinkler system" in Minnesota. The two meter set-up is also not that common. Most homes that were originally on a well, and are now on municipal water, converted the (well) system for irrigation only (no meter), or abandoned the well entirely. There are always exceptions to everything.
Jeff

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