Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company explains the reason why the meter rotates automatically when no water is used.

Mr. Kieu Ngoc Binh said that on the morning of September 20, after receiving complaints from households in Hung Binh ward, specifically Mr. Thai Van Vinh, at 26 Vinh Yen street, the company's technical department went down to 26 Vinh Yen street to check.

The inspection results showed that the water meter of the household that did not use water (Mr. Thai Van Vinh's household) was rotating automatically when the neighboring household turned on the tap. Mr. Binh also said that the company's technical department had known about Mr. Thai Van Vinh's complaint and had come down to check and explain to the people many times.

Sample of domestic water meter installed by Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company for households in Hung Binh ward. Photo: HT

Mr. Kieu Ngoc Binh said that the reason why this household's water meter rotates by itself when the neighboring household turns on the tap is due to the "water impact phenomenon". Mr. Binh further explained that this phenomenon occurs when the neighboring house installs a lever type faucet to lock/unlock the tap. And when the neighboring house is turning on the tap and suddenly closes it, it will cause the water impact phenomenon. That is, suddenly closing the tap will cause a pressure on the stagnant water in the water pipe system connected to the neighboring house's tap, causing the fan blade of the neighboring house's water meter to rotate by itself. However, the self-rotation of the fan bladewater meterBecause the water impact phenomenon does not increase the water meter reading, it does not affect the measurement of the customer's water usage volume.

Deputy Head of Technical Department of Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company, Mr. Kieu Ngoc Binh. Photo: HT

Discussing how to fix the problem of the meter spinning automatically when no water is used, Mr. Kieu Ngoc Binh said that because it does not affect the measurement results of the actual volume of water used by the household, there is no need for any solution.

Previously, the company's technical department also received feedback from Mr. Thai Van Vinh's household, checked and responded, explaining the above reasons, but the household still did not agree. "If the customer is still not satisfied with our explanation, the company will invite a third party to re-inspect the quality of the water meter. Because Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company is also a unit with enough conditions and authority to measure and inspect the quality of water meters. And in fact, before installing the meter for the customer, all equipment (water meters) are strictly inspected by us, ensuring that they meet technical and quality requirements before proceeding with the installation for the customer" - Deputy Head of Technical Department of Nghe An Water Supply Company affirmed.

Previously, as reported, on the morning of September 19, Nghe An Newspaper received a complaint from people in Hung Binh Ward, Vinh City, specifically the household at 26 Vinh Yen Street, Hung Binh Ward, Mr. Thai Van Vinh (homeowner) stated that for many months now, the family's water meter has been in a state of not discharging water but still rotating.

“More than 2 months ago, around June 2022, while sitting in front of the house near the water meter, I accidentally lifted the cover of the water meter protection box and discovered that the meter was spinning smoothly, while no one in my house was running the tap,” said Mr. Thai Van Vinh. Mr. Vinh also added that, seeing such a confusing phenomenon, he was curious to check the meters of the surrounding households and also saw a similar phenomenon. Informing the households about this situation, the households checked and realized another situation, which was that when the adjacent household used water, even if the neighboring household did not run the tap, the meter still spun.

To verify people's reflection, on the morning of September 19, Nghe An Newspaper reporters, together with households on Vinh Yen Street, conducted an "experiment" of discharging water and observing the operating status of the water meter.

At the water meter of house number 26, after closing all the water taps of this family, we and the owner of house number 28 released the water valve of house number 28, and the water meters of both houses turned at the same time. However, the water meter of house number 28 (which was discharging water) turned at a fast speed, while the meter of the adjacent house number 26 (which was not discharging water) still turned at a slower speed.

The water supply company sent staff to check water meters of people in Hung Binh ward. Photo courtesy

Continuing to “experiment” with the meter of household number 51 opposite household number 26, we also observed similar results. Therefore, the residents of Hung Binh ward reporting the situation of not flushing the faucet but the water meter still running is true.

According to Mr. Vinh, around June 2022, when he discovered this situation, Mr. Thai Van Vinh called the water bill collector but waited a long time without seeing any solution, so he went to Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company to report. After that, the Company also sent technical staff down to check, confirmed that this situation had occurred, and had a record confirming a "technical problem". To fix it, the Water Plant staff installed an additional one-way shut-off valve on the water pipe of Mr. Thai Van Vinh's family. "After installing the shut-off valve, the family's water bill decreased compared to the previous month. However, the "self-rotation" situation of the meter has not stopped, although the self-rotation speed has decreased compared to before" - Mr. Thai Van Vinh presented.

Some households along Vinh Yen Street also expressed their agreement and affirmed that the situation of the meter still rotating even though no water was discharged as Mr. Thai Van Vinh reported was real. "After hearing Mr. Vinh talk about this, we checked our meter and found out. Normally, every month when there is a notice to pay the water bill, we pay the money, but we never check the meter so we don't know about the problem of the meter rotating by itself like this" - said a householder on Vinh Yen Street.

(Nghe An Newspaper will continue to inform about the above incident).

Hoai Thu