A. Meter required. Except for extinguishing fires, only authorized City employees shall use water from the City water supply system or permit water to be drawn from the water supply system unless the water passes through a meter supplied or approved by the City. Unless authorized by the Public Works Department, a person shall not connect, disconnect, take apart, or in any manner change or interfere with any meter, remote reader, sending wires, or their use.

B. Maintenance. The City shall maintain and repair at its expense any meter that has become unserviceable through ordinary wear and tear and shall replace it if necessary. Where repair or replacement is made necessary by act or neglect of the owner or occupant of the premises it serves, any City expense caused by the act or neglect shall be charged to the water consumer, and water service may be discontinued until the cause is corrected and the amount is paid.

C. Complaints, meter testing. When a consumer complains that the bill for any past service period is excessive, the City shall have the meter read on request. If still dissatisfied, the consumer may have the meter tested by the City. This test shall be done after the consumer has applied on a form provided by the City. If the test shows the customer's meter is inaccurate by more than 5% above the City's standard test meter, the homeowner shall be refunded for the amount in error of the read for that quarter, an accurate meter shall be installed and the bill shall be adjusted accordingly. The adjustment shall not extend back more than one quarter monthly cycle from the date of the application. If the City meter tests accurate to within 5% the homeowner will incur all costs of said testing.

D. Meters property of City. Water meters are the property of the City and may be removed or replaced when deemed necessary by the Council or its designee.

E. Meter readings and inspection. Authorized meter readers shall have free access at reasonable hours of the day to all parties of every building and premises connected with the City water supply system in order to read meters and make inspections.