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We have a 1.5" water main line coming into our house (inside the house piping is 3/4" or less). We are on a small private water district and the administrator of the well district wants to put in a 3/4 inch meter by cutting into the 1.5" main line. Is that going to affect the pressure and the water flow into the house? What are the negative implications of doing this? The total distance from the pump house to the house is over 1500 ft long.

Thanks all for the great feedback. Very helpful. Appreciate it. Confirms my stance that the meter should be of equivalent size.

They were originally talking about putting the meter at the entrance to our property which is about 500 yards away. We discovered there are lot of utilities including gas lines in that area. Now they are proposing to install the meter where the pump and water tank is located (over 1500' away). It is community well with about 15 or so houses connected to the well. Ours is the longest from the pump house.

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  • You say the distance from the pump house to your house is 1500 ft. Will the meter be next to the house?
    – Edwin
    Commented Apr 24, 2015 at 19:09
  • No. They want to put the meter on the other side of water line (near the pump house).
    – user35952
    Commented Apr 24, 2015 at 22:17
  • One negative aspect of having a larger meter is it will likely result in a higher service charge. In my city, the service charge increase for a 1-1/2" meter over a 3/4" meter is about $85 a month.
    – Edwin
    Commented Apr 24, 2015 at 23:48
  • I think as long as you don't run 3/4" pipe over the 1500ft, you shouldn't notice a difference.
    – Edwin
    Commented Apr 24, 2015 at 23:49
  • I think some type of calculation might be possible if someone knows how to apply this "pressure loss" equation.
    – crokusek
    Commented Apr 3, 2020 at 22:26

2 Answers 2

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Putting any obstruction or turn in a water line will affect the flow and hence the water pressure. Not only will narrowing the line cut the pressure, but all the meter-related crap inside the device will cause massive turbulence and other flow-restricting effects.

As far as legal issues are concerned, read whatever agreement you may have signed with the district.

Note that state laws always trump any bullshit local regulations, so read state law carefully. In my experience, local administrators often do things that are ridiculously illegal under state law. Often you can coerce such pint-sized local despots by finding some violation of state law they are making and threatening to complain about to the AG or to sue them outright for it.

Water is always very political. In many cases your best course of action is to gather a large group of people (like all your neighbors) and storm city hall. This will often frighten the local gauleiters into stop doing whatever it is they are doing.

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A 3/4" meter isn't going to make that big of a pressure drop, especially if the line is 1500 ft. long (which is probably why it's 1.5", which is otherwise a pretty big line for a house). The piping is most likely 1.5" just to prevent pressure loss over the long run, and then it steps down to 3/4" anyway when it goes in to the house.

Having said that, it will have some effect, so no reason to do it if not necessary. Could they put the meter on the 3/4" section of pipe? How are they metering the water now?

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