I opened my water meter before I saw a video on how to do so. It has a locking mechanism, and the city does not want people opening it. I’ve got news for the city: It is not uncommon to want to get in there to turn off the water. Anyone with an old house may have to do so several times a year. Anyhow, I got it open, and there is nothing a large crowbar can’t handle. I guess I didn’t damage the wires as they are still transmitting. But now I know the proper way to open the meter box. The next problem will come when I have to remove most of that dirt to find the part of the meter that shuts off the water to my house.
As to not wanting people to open them, the City suggests that we turn off the water during a freeze. Many houses do not have a shut-off valve on their property; that valve is at the meter. I wonder if the people working for the city have ever looked into how to solve a problem before giving advice?
Too often, we find that the only way the residents of Houston can get the city to do something that is their responsibility is to contact the news media.
After repeated attempts to get help, residents reached out to KPRC 2’s Rilwan Balogun.
Balogun then contacted the city around 11 a.m., and within hours, city crews were on-site, breaking ground to repair the leak.
“When I pulled in the neighborhood and I saw that City of Houston truck, I said, ‘man, hold up,’” Fraser said. “I see this right there. I said ‘yeah, oh yeah, this guy made something happen right here.’”
I opened the meter a few months ago when I wrote about what the inside of the meter box looked like. Because of the slope of my property, water will get into the meter along with a lot of dirt.
