What is a Flow Meter And Why Do You Need One?
One of the most crucial elements in life is water. Society was first established near great bodies of fresh water. Nowadays water comes to us through the pipes of the local water company. But getting water to us costs money, which is usually charged to the customers of the water company. To prevent people from being charged unfairly, the water company charges their customers by how much water they consume in a month. This is where flow meters come in. Flow meters are used in each house, property, or building to ensure that everyone’s water consumption is measured.
photo/ Nine Köpfer
A flow meter is any device that measures the flow of liquids or other similar items. It comes in all shapes and sizes for any purpose. Flow meters are usually made of plastic and corrosion-resistant metals, but depending on the purpose, some flow meters are made up of entirely metal components. They’re used in all kinds of flowing resources like water, oil, and steam.
Why do you need a flow meter?
Having a reliable flow meter for flowing resources is essential for several reasons:
- It helps you track your consumption.
Flowing resources like water and fuel are hard to track with just estimates. Not knowing the exact measure, people tend to overestimate or underestimate their consumption. When running a business, the inability to take into account the precise measurement of resources you use might lead to overspending. There is also the danger that a leak might occur somewhere after the flow meter. Flow meters will help you track how much you consume and may even help you locate leaks.
- It can aid you in monitoring costs.
Following the first point, if you can monitor your consumption, then you’ll also be able to watch how much you spend on a resource. This is important especially for businesses that use up a lot of fuel and water, like restaurants, bars and factories. Using flow meters at home has the same apparent advantages, although that’s common knowledge.
There are different flow meters for every resource
Many companies produce and sell flow meters for different purposes. There is no one general flow meter for all flowing resources because different resources have different compositions, as well as being used differently. They usually use the same metric when measuring flowing resources, but each flow meter is specifically designed to measure only one type of resource, and you wouldn’t often use one type of meter for all resources.
Finally, pressure, viscosity, and temperature also come into play when choosing a flow meter. You wouldn’t usually use thin plastics to measure hot resources. Plastics will quickly melt in hot temperatures and may fail after a short period. So for that, flow meters with metal parts are used instead. There are also different displays for the meters. Traditional plastic dials exist alongside meters using electronic displays, like Mass-Stream. Depending on the product and use, you may need to ask an expert.
Author: Joana Green
