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About this tool
Log water meter readings to track litres per day, litres per person, cost and leak signals between any two readings.
This tracker turns a list of dated water meter readings into the numbers that matter: litres used per day, litres per person per day, cost per period, and whether the latest period has jumped far enough above your own median to suggest a leak. Consumption is the difference between two readings divided by the days between them, with one kilolitre — the unit on most domestic dials — equal to one cubic metre or 1,000 litres. Per-person use is compared against the 135 litres per capita per day that India's CPHEEO manual uses to size piped supply with sewerage.
Open Water Meter Reading Tracker on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Add your input to the workspace.
Adjust the options until the result looks right.
Copy or download the output and put it to work.
Divides by household size so a growing family and a leak look different.
Flags a period more than 30% above the household's median instead of an arbitrary limit.
Works with meters that read in kilolitres or straight litres, at your tariff.
Read the black digits from left to right — those are whole kilolitres, each equal to 1,000 litres or one cubic metre. The red digits or dials after them are fractions of a kilolitre, useful for leak testing but usually not billed. Note the reading with the date; consumption is always the difference between two readings.
Close every tap and appliance in the house, note the meter reading including the red fraction dials, then wait an hour without using any water and read it again. Any movement means water is escaping somewhere between the meter and your fixtures. A tap dripping about once a second wastes roughly 15 litres a day, and a continuously seeping toilet cistern can waste 200 litres or more.
India's CPHEEO Manual on Water Supply and Treatment uses 135 litres per capita per day as the design figure for towns with piped supply and sewerage, and 70 lpcd where there is piped supply without sewerage. Actual household use varies widely with garden watering, washing machines and the number of bathrooms — the useful comparison is against your own past months.
Check the days in the billing period first: a 34-day cycle against a 28-day one is over 20% more water at identical daily use, which is why comparing litres per day matters more than comparing totals. After that, look for a tariff slab crossing, a revised fixed charge, or an estimated rather than actual reading on one of the bills.