ᐅ Separate Water Meter for Garden Irrigation – How to Read the Meter

It actually depends on the country or the administrative district. We are now also addressing the issue with a sealed water faucet installed by a plumber.

ypg schrieb:

It actually depends on the country or the local district.
We are now addressing the issue with a plumber-installed sealed water valve.

Our plumber also sealed the meter, but that was not accepted.
Therefore, check in advance whether it must be sealed by the municipality/water authority.

Because of this mistake, I just ended up paying for 45 cubic meters (approximately 1,590 cubic feet) of excess wastewater :/

Tx-25 schrieb:

So, check in advance whether it is mandatory for the municipality/water authority to seal it.

… this has already been agreed with our installer: he is allowed to do it 🙂

ypg schrieb:

… has already been agreed with our installer: he’s allowed to do that 🙂

Still, check the rules from the wastewater association.

In our case, the legal regulation in the association’s rules stated for the first few years that we had to pay for a minimum usage of 31 cubic meters per person. Only consumption above that amount qualified for a fee exemption for external water. With three people in the household, our total consumption including external water was only between 90 and 100 cubic meters in those first years. So, applying for the exemption wouldn’t have been worth the effort. Eventually, the rules were changed.

guckuck2 schrieb:

Getting approval for a well in such regions is basically off the table. Or well owners are also instructed not to draw any water anymore (unless it has already dried up).
A cistern of typical household volume empties after 1-2 weeks. Without a well, it’s quite pointless and also expensive.

Yes, I know. Under current conditions (with wastewater discharge exemption), neither a well nor a cistern is really cost-effective (let alone if you want to build one somewhat larger than typical household size).
However, it is to be expected that due to ongoing drought conditions here, prices will increase or extraction will be prohibited. Then the calculation could look very different.
The cistern would need to be positioned so that when it does rain, it collects water from the entire 100m² (1,076 ft²) roof as well as 50m² (538 ft²) from the garage, not just from one downspout. That would mean placing it under our driveway, which would be even more complicated.
Therefore, currently not an option.

I’m still hoping for the approximately 500m² (5,382 ft²) garden plot with a small barn behind our property. There is a large water tank there for catchment, and used IPC containers could also be an option.

Musketier schrieb:

That effort for the exemption wouldn’t have been worth it at all.

We’ll check this evening how much consumption we actually have.