Submeter Replacement and Repair for Apartments

Why do submeters stop reading?

A wireless water submeter is really two pieces. The meter body sits on the pipe and measures the water. A small transmitter on top, powered by a battery, sends that reading to a gateway somewhere on the property. The body has very little in it that wears out. The battery is another story, so when a unit goes quiet, check the transmitter first.

Your read history will usually tell you the cause before anyone opens a closet. One unit dropping to zero points to a battery. Twenty units on one floor going quiet on the same day points to a repeater. Our page on common submetering issues covers each one in more detail.

When should a submeter be replaced instead of repaired?

If the meter is dry and tests accurate, repair it. That covers most service calls.

Replace it if water is seeping around it, if the fittings have that green crust, or if a test shows it reading low. Old meters almost always drift low. The resident gets billed for less than they used, and the owner picks up the difference on the master bill. Nobody calls to complain about a bill that's too small, so this can go on for years before anyone notices.

Age matters too. Meter bodies typically last 15 to 20 years and transmitter batteries 10 to 20. A 17-year-old meter with a dead battery is usually worth replacing outright. A 6-year-old one just needs the battery. There's more on this in how long water submeters last.

What happens during a submeter replacement?

It starts with a survey. A technician walks the property and writes down what's on the wall: brand, model, pipe size, rough age, and whether the radio network still works. You get a unit-by-unit plan with pricing. NES replies within one business day of your request, and the written assessment takes up to five.

Residents get notice before any water is shut off. On a typical install, each occupied unit is without water for under 30 minutes. Our technicians are NES employees, so the person working in the unit works for the company that bills it. They swap the meter, connect it to the gateway, and check that a live read comes through before moving to the next unit. The new reads go straight into the next billing cycle.

Some cities require a licensed plumber or a permit to cut in a new meter. Check your local rules before work starts.

How much does submeter replacement cost?

A battery or transmitter swap costs a fraction of a new meter, and the plumbing isn't touched. A new water submeter, installed, averages $150 to $300 per unit across NES projects. Treat that as a starting range. Pipe size and access move the price more than anything else. A meter in an open utility closet goes quickly. One behind a vanity or a stacked washer takes longer. Doing a whole building in one trip also costs less per unit than replacing meters one at a time as they fail.

We sell meters at cost, with no markup on the hardware, and we keep them in stock. Most orders ship the next business day. They're nonproprietary, so you own them and any billing company can read them. Optional extended warranties are available on meters NES sells and installs. NES Meter Care covers upkeep after the install, and meters and equipment lists brands and buy or lease options.

Are residents billed while a meter is broken?

NES bills from actual reads. We don't estimate. If a meter is out, the unit is billed from the verified read once it's fixed, and any gap is handled under the lease and your state's rules. Residents never pay for the meter or the repair, since the owner owns the equipment.

Daily wireless reads make this easier. A meter that stops reporting shows up on our end the next day, so most fixes happen before the billing cycle closes.

Which meter brands does NES repair and replace?

NES sells and services water, gas and electric submeters from nine manufacturers, and we work on them no matter who installed them. We keep meters, transmitters and parts in stock, and most orders ship the next business day. The links go to each manufacturer's own support pages, where you'll find manuals and spec sheets.

Brand-by-brand notes, like which Inovonics transmitters take a new battery and why older Leviton meters light up when they're wired wrong, are on our submeter brands page.

Product names are trademarks of their owners.

Can NES fix meters another company installed?

Yes. If the meters are nonproprietary, we can usually repair them and read them as they are. Proprietary systems, the kind only the original vendor can read, take more work. Sometimes a new transmitter fits the old meter. Sometimes the meter has to come out. Our page on proprietary and discontinued submeters walks through both.

If the meters are fine and it's the service you're unhappy with, read switching submetering providers first. You may not need new equipment at all.