water meter vaults & pits
A water meter pit is a below ground chamber or pit, found in the water service chain, in between a water main and a residence or business that houses a water meter assembly, used for localities to periodically read the amount of water usage for billing purposes. The pit is a premanufactured concrete, plastic, or polymer structure which is buried in the ground and houses the entire meter pit assembly. A standard residential meter pit assembly typically consists of a meter box, two compression fittings, the water service pipe, a water meter, a mounting mechanism for the meter and pipe, a service valve, and a check valve. The meter pit is assembled in the excavation and then backfilled around.
It is also common for a residential service meter to be installed on or near the exterior wall of a home, either outside or inside a basement, crawl space, or utility room.
For commercial, industrial, or municipality meter pits, precast concrete structures with top hatch doors are common. Inside the meter pit or vault is typically a series of valves, a flanged piping systems, bypass piping features, sump pit, and a meter. These meter vaults are common with 4″ or greater pipe and the meter system may be hard wired to the grid for tracking of water usage. Telemetry or wireless information transmission is also becoming available to eliminate the need for hard wiring. Many of these larger meters which are housed in larger vaults subject to groundwater, must be rated for submersion in water for extended periods of time.
