The staff of the Commission will probably include one chief inspector, one complaint inspector, and from fifteen to twenty testers at work in the testing stations. Already marked improvement in the work of the testers has been manifest, and the number of meters tested per day per employee is about double the number tested under the State Inspector prior to July 1, 1907. So far as the work of the Commission is concerned, there are four classes of meters: 1. New meters; those not having been used previously. 2. Repaired meters; those having been used, removed from the consumers' premises, but not on complaint, and repaired by the companies. 3. Complaint meters; those whose accuracy has been questioned in a complaint to the Commission. 4. Removed meters; those that have been in use, removed from the consumers' premises, but not on complaint, and not repaired. The testing of these meters is now being performed under the following instruc tions: WORK OF RECORD CLERK, (A) Complaint Meters. (1) When the application is made in person, the clerk may fill out application blank, form G1 or G2, and have it signed, one blank being used for each meter. If the fee is paid, a receipt (form G3) shall be given, the stub being detached and retained until the complaint is settled. The companies are to be billed monthly for the amounts due. When the application is made by letter, form G1 or G2 shall be filled out by the clerk so far as possible from the data given in the letter. When the application is made by a company, the clerk shall fill out and send to the company form G17. (2) The clerk shall then take two cards (form G4), one white and one yellow, which cards shall be exact duplicates, numbered serially with the application number and used in order of these numbers, and enter upon them the date, the name and full address of the person making the application, the name of the gas company supplying the premises, the amount of the fee, and if the size of the meter is known, and if the fee is paid indicate it by entering the date in the proper space. If not all of the data called for on forms G1 or G2 are given, the clerk shall send the forms G1 or G2 to the complaint inspector, to be filled out and returned. When form G1 or G2 has been returned by the inspector, the missing data shall be inserted on form G4, and the application shall be placed on file in alphabetical order according to the name of the applicant. When the white sheet of form G5 has been returned, the clerk shall send this white sheet to the proper gas company to constitute the removal order for the meter, shall enter upon form G4 the date upon which this order has been sent, and shall then send the yellow card of form G4 to the proper tester at the testing station as a notification that the meter described on the card is to be received and tested. (3) When the card has been returned from the testing station after the test has been recorded, the record clerk shall send notice of the result of the test to the gas company, using for this purpose form G7, and shall also send notice of the result of the test to the consumer, using form G8, except when the application for the test was made by the gas company; then he shall use form G18. After filling out these notices, he shall enter upon form G4 (white and yellow) the dates on which they were sent. If the meter is fast beyond the limits allowed by law, the fee deposited for the test shall be returned to the consumer, as provided in forms G8 and G9, and the record clerk shall enter upon form G4 (white and yellow) and the stub of G3 the date upon which this fee was returned. He shall also enter upon form G4 the date upon which the fee for a fast meter is paid by the gas company. In the case of a meter which is correct or slow, the last two entries are not to be made. (4) When forms G4 (white and yellow) have been entirely filled out, the white card shall be filed in the proper place alphabetically by the name of the consumer, and the duplicate (yellow) shall be filed in the numerical order of the application. (5) The record clerk shall keep all fees until the test has been made and the record completed. He shall then deposit them monthly with the city treasurer, and take a receipt therefor, to be deposited with the Secretary of the Commission. (B) All Meters. (6) The record clerk shall file and have charge of the daily reports made by the meter testers. The yellow sheets shall be kept as records until the books for which they are duplicates shall have been filled and returned by the testers, and then these duplicates shall be destroyed. (7) He shall also make up monthly summaries of tests not later than the fifteenth of the month for the month preceding. For this work he shall use forms G13 to G16, and these forms shall be kept by him on file. WORK OF CHIEF INSPECTOR. (8) All apparatus for the testing of meters shall be examined, approved and stamped by the chief inspector before being used, and he shall also oversee the proving and sealing of all meters. WORK OF COMPLAINT INSPECTOR. (A) Complaint Meters. (9) The complaint inspector to whom an application is assigned shall take the forms sent him, prepare and send out notices when he will call (form G10), and proceed to the premises designated. On arrival there he shall obtain and enter the missing data for the completion of the forms, shall locate the meter, enter its description on the forms and collect the fee, if it has not been paid, entering on the forms the payment of this fee with date and giving the proper receipt for it (form G3) to the consumer. He shall then fill out form G5, detach the white original sheet from the tag and attach the tag to the meter, entering in the proper place on form G4 the date as an indication that the meter has been tagged. At the end of the day he shall send to the record clerk all the copies of form G and all the white sheets of form G5 for the meters to which he has attended, and the receipt stubs (form G3) which he has used. At least once each week he shall account to the clerk for all fees received by him. WORK OF THE METER TESTERS. (A) Complaint Meters. (10) Upon receiving form G4 at the testing station, the tester shall look out for the arrival of the meter described on this form, and when it is received, shall enter in the proper place his name and the date of its receipt. He shall then test the meter, after allowing it to remain in the station not less than five hours in order that the temperature may be equalized, within twenty-four hours after its receipt unless the consumer desires to be present at the test and it cannot be arranged to secure his presence within this time limit. (11) Complaint meters should always be given two tests, and if these two do not agree with each other a third test should be made. If the two tests agree, or if the three tests are made, the average of all the tests shall be taken as representing the condition of the meter. After the test has been made, the tester shall enter the record in the meter test record book, writing "complaint meter" in the "remarks" column and shall also enter upon form G4 the cubic feet passed by the meter and by the prover and the percentage fast or slow shown by the test. He shall also fill out form G6 and paste it upon the meter, and shall seal the meter in the manner hereinafter prescribed, provided the meter is accurate within the limits allowed by statute. At the end of each day he shall send to the record clerk all the copies of form G4 upon which he has recorded the results of tests during the day. (B) All Meters. (12) Before beginning work each morning the tester should see that the temperature of the water in the prover is the same as that of the air in the room, the temperature of the water being adjusted if these temperatures are not the same. For the purpose of observing these temperatures two thermometers must be provided, one being placed in the water and the other hung up in the air, and these two thermometers should be checked against each other to see that when exposed to the same conditions their readings are the same. The tester must also be satisfied that the meters which he has to test have been in the immediate vicinity of the provers for a sufficient length of time to have acquired the temperature of the air surrounding the provers. While testing, no direct sunlight should be allowed to strike either the provers or the meters to be tested and the observations of the temperature of the water and of the air shall be made at least every fifteen minutes. (13) Meters are to be given the check test only, but while making this test the size of the dial is to be observed, and it is to be noted whether this dial is of the proper size for the size of the meter. (14) After the meter has been connected to the prover, a test for the tightness of the connections must be made by closing the meter outlet with the hand and throwing the prover cock wide open, so that full pressure is thrown on all the connections and the meter, and then shutting the prover cock and watching the pressure gauge to see that the pressure holds. If the pressure does not hold, the connections must be gone over and another test for tightness made before the test of the meter is begun. (15) From 1 cubic foot to 12 cubic feet of air must be passed through the meter before beginning the test. The object of this is to make certain that the meter is working freely before the test begins. (16) The proving hand on the dial must be brought to, and stopped at, one of the divisions on the up stroke of this dial and the test started with the hand at such a division and concluded when the hand again reaches this division after making a complete revolution. (17) Meters showing on the first test a proof of either 99 or 101, or one between these limits, are to be passed on this single test. (18) Meters showing on the first test a proof between 98% and 99, or between 101 and 1012, or exactly 98% or 1012, are to be given a second test, the average of the prover readings and of the percentages of errors for the two tests being recorded and the meter being passed, provided the average proof is more than 98 and not more than 102. (19) Meters showing on the first test a proof between 98 and 981⁄2, or between 101% and 102, or exactly 102, are to be given a second test, passing four cubic feet through three and five-light meters on this second test, and are to be passed if the average proof shown by the two tests is above 98 and not more than 102, the average of the prover readings reduced to the normal 2 feet basis for three and five-light meters, and the average of the percentages of error for the two tests being recorded. If necessary, a third test may be made with such meters, but only when there is some doubt as to the accuracy of the first two tests. If the third test is made the average of all three tests is to be taken as being correct, and the meter is to be passed or rejected on this average. (20) Meters showing a proof of 98, or less than 98, or more than 102 on the first test, or as an average of either two or three tests, as specified above, are to be rejected and returned for readjustment by the company presenting them for test. Form G6 shall be filled out and attached to each meter rejected. After such readjustment the meters are to be again tested. (21) The bell of the meter prover should be drawn to its full height and the scales wiped the last thing at the end of each day's work and left up during the night. The object of this is to prevent discoloration of the body of the bell and of the scales. Care should be taken that the cocks are shut off tight so that the bell will remain up all night, and by taking the reading on the scale at the time of stopping work and again when work is begun the next morning a test is obtained of the tightness of the prover and the connections up to the prover cock and of this cock itself. In case these readings show that the prover is not tight the leak should be found and remedied before making any tests. (22) The record of every meter tested should be recorded in full in the meter test record book, and in the "remarks" column a note shall be made to show whether the meter is a new, repaired, complaint or removed meter, wherever possible. (23) Every meter ascertained to be correct within the limits allowed by law shall be sealed, and no meter shall be sealed which has been found to be incorrect according to the preceding instructions. The tester should see that the ring is properly placed upon the meter, so that the ring will overlap the seam on the cover. In no case shall a meter be sealed unless the ring is properly placed. Sufficient wax should be poured into the ring so as to permit the making of a clear impression of the seal, and the impression should be clear and easily legible. A table showing the percentages of errors under varying conditions appears as Respectfully submitted, an appendix to this report. (Signed) MILO R. MALTBIE, TABLES SHOWING PERCENTAGE OF ERRORS IN METERS WHOSE REGISTRATION DIFFERS FROM THE INDICATIONS OF THE TEST GAS HOLDERS. |