Superior Township, Michigan

If you are planning on laying sod, landscaping, installing a sprinkler system or any other activity that will require a large amount of outside water usage, we strongly suggest you consider purchasing a sprinkler meter for your home.

Once a sprinkler meter is installed, we are able to separately measure the amount of water you use for outside watering from the amount of water you use inside your home (bathing, laundry, etc.).  Your inside water usage would continue to be billed at the total water/sewer rate.  You would, however, only be charged for the water portion of the total water/sewer rate for your outside watering.  This would result in cutting that portion of your bill by approximately 50% from what it would be, if you did not have a second meter.

SPRINKLER SYSTEM FACTS:

• An average sprinkler system has six zones, with each zone flowing approximately 12 to 15 gallons of water per minute.  If each zone flows for 20 minutes, this equates to up to two hours of constant water flow each time the system cycles and uses anywhere from 1,440 gallons (193 cubic feet) to 1800 gallons (241 cubic feet) of water.
• Depending on the number of zones in your system, the above water flows are equivalent to one and one-half to two bathtubs running full-blast, with both hot and cold water taps, for up to two hours.
• An average sprinkler system is normally set up to cycle anywhere from one to three times per day.
• Based on our current rates, this translates to approximately $10 to $12 per day, per cycle, to water an average-sized lawn.
• A sprinkler meter would cut the above cost approximately in half.

Sprinkler meter installation diagram

PROCEDURE FOR GETTING A SPRINKLER METER:

Click here for a printable pdf of the procedure.

The following is the typical procedure that you should follow if you are interested in purchasing and installing a sprinkler meter:

1. Obtain a Plumbing Permit – Plumbing permits are purchased from our Building Department at Township Hall, which is located at 3040 North Prospect Road (at Cherry Hill and Prospect Roads).  For more information about plumbing permits, call 734-482-6099 and request to speak to someone from the Building Department. 
   
2. Separate Plumbing – Using either one of the enclosed diagrams as a guideline (DIAGRAM 1, DIAGRAM 2), you (the customer) will need to arrange to have all plumbing associated with the secondary meter rearranged so that it is limited to usage outside of the home only (hose bibs and underground irrigation systems).   
   The schematics depict a ¾” meter installation, which is the correct size meter for a sprinkler system having continuous flows of a maximum of 15 gallons per minute.  This size meter is the one that has typically been installed, to date, in all of the Superior Township subdivisions east of Prospect Road and south of Geddes Road.
   
3.  Pay for Meter and Schedule Installation – Once the plumbing has been separated, contact us at 734-480-5500 to arrange to pay for the meter/installation and to schedule an appointment for us to do the installation.

The price for a sprinkler meter is $250.00 for the meter and $30.00 for the Utility Department's portion of the installation, for a total of $280.00. This cost is based on the size meter that is correct for a sprinkler system having continuous flows of a maximum of 15 gallons per minute as mentioned in item #2 above.

Our Technicians are available, by appointment only, to install these meters on Tuesdays and Thursdays, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
734-480-5500