All meters shall be furnished and maintained, as far as ordinary wear is concerned, by the utility, and remain the property of the utility and be accessible to and subject to its control. A gate valve shall be placed on the service line on the street side of and near the meter (§ 295-22), and a suitable check valve and a relief valve shall be inserted in the line between the utility's meter and any heating unit directly connected to the service line (§ 295-23); all to be placed by and remain the property of the customer.
The customer shall be responsible to the utility at all times for proper protection of the meter from injury or loss of the meter arising out of or caused by customer's negligence or carelessness or that of his servants, agents, employees or any person upon his premises under or by authority of his consent or sufferance. The customer shall permit no one who is not an agent of the utility or otherwise lawfully authorized to do so to remove, inspect or tamper with the utility's meter or other property of the utility on his premises. The customer is also responsible for all equipment that is used to monitor water consumption. If the meter is lost, broken, lighting damaged, frozen and breaks, or any part of the assembly (meter, wire, and outside pad) is damaged by the customer, the customer shall be responsible for the cost to replace the meter and/or damaged assembly parts.
If a range boiler or heating boiler is directly connected to the pipelines, the utility shall install an approved type of positive action relief valve on the outlet side of the meter to protect the meter from hot water, at the expense of the customer.
A. 
The utility shall determine the size and location for the meter. The meter shall be placed at a convenient point approved by the utility so as to control the entire supply. Meters shall not be higher than four feet from the floor. Water lines shall not run under the floor to the meter. A valve will be installed in front of and after the meter. A flared or compression fitting must be used at the first valve before the meter. Copper pipe shall be used up to the valve. The ERT (encoder-receiver-transmitter) for the meter must be mounted on the wall no lower than three feet, at a location approved by the utility. If the customer fails to install the ERT and/or wire at the location required, the service line will be shut off until all requirements have been complied with. For ERT pit installations, complete any necessary drilling to hook up the antenna for the meter before the meter installation. Pits in a wooded area require pressure treated posts with half plastic piping to cover the wire from the pit to the post. Pits that are on a hill require the post to be mounted at the bottom of the hill, and in an area that allow the utility reader access to get to the ERT. If the utility decides the meter is to be placed within the building to be served, the customer shall provide free of charge and expense to the utility an easily accessible place near the entrance of the service pipe, If the utility decides the meter is to be located outside the building to be served, it must be placed in an approved meter box furnished by the utility at the expense of the customer.
B. 
Meters moved for the convenience of the customer shall be relocated at the customer's expense. If the service line from the curb box to the location of the water meter exceeds 100 feet, a meter pit is required. The pit shall be located within 15 feet of the property line. Note that the utility engineer will review the meter pit. A backflow prevention device will be required in accordance with the Backflow Prevention and Cross Connection Control Policies and Procedures Manual promulgated and revised from time to time by the City of Lancaster Department of Public Works.
All meters shall be tested periodically by the utility without cost to the customer, and the customer may have the meter tested at any other time by making a written application to the Bureau of Water and providing a deposit, as indicated in § 295-34, to defray the cost of the special test.
In case of a disputed account involving the accuracy of a meter, such meter shall be tested upon the request of the applicant, in conformity with the provisions of the rules and regulations pertaining to water service utilities of the Public Utility Commission.
A. 
When meters are removed after installation, at the request of the applicant, for testing, the following rule of the Public Utility Commission shall apply:
"If the meter so tested shall be found to be accurate within the limits herein specified, a fee determined from the schedule indicated below shall be paid to the utility by the customer requiring such test; but if not so found, then the cost thereof shall be borne by the utility furnishing the service. The amount of the fee shall be $2 for each water meter having an outlet not exceeding one inch; for other water meters having an outlet not exceeding two inches, the test fee shall be $5 per meter."
B. 
Rates for testing meters not included in the above classification or which are so located that the cost is out of proportion to the fee specified will be furnished by the City Council.
If a meter is found to be in error at any test by more than 4%, an allowance or charge shall be made to the customer by the utility, equal to the excess or deficiency in quantity charged the customer, figured back from the date of test through the entire period of the current bill, unless it can be shown that the error is due to an accident or other cause, the exact date of which can be determined, in which case it shall be figured back to such date.
When a meter has been found to be in error more than 4%, it will be repaired or replaced with a meter accurate within 4% by the utility without charge to the customer.
If a meter, by reason of any defect, has not registered for one month or any part of a quarter year, then the bill for that period shall be estimated on the basis of the average consumption during the three preceding periods. The customer shall at once notify the utility of any cessation of the registration of the meter. Every meter is installed subject to a minimum monthly or quarterly charge in accordance with the schedule of rates and such minimum charge shall be nonabatable or nonuse of water and noncumulative against subsequent consumption.