City of Joliet properties are billed for water and sewer services based upon the amount of water consumed between the prior and current meter readings. Since customers may want, or need, to occasion­ally read their own meter, the following information is provided to assist you. If you have a radio installed on your meter it will be read electronically each month. This allows the City to read the meters more efficiently and it also eliminates the possibility for human error in obtaining the meter read. Because the City reads these meters electronically the registers will often have a layer of dirt on top of them. Simply wipe it off with a wet rag and you will be able to see the face of the meter.
All water meters approved for use by the City read much like a car’s odometer. Older meters may have several dials and pointers, but they are generally considered obsolete and, in most cases, should be replaced based on age alone. This deals only with odometer-type meters whose basic usage measurements are shown below.

All water meter readings are in cubic feet. The lowest revolving dial (the one farthest to the right) equals one cubic foot., if you write down all the numbers, including any fixed or painted zeros, the reading is in cubic feet.

In order to manually read your own meter, just subtract the visual number you obtain from the meter from what is listed on the water bill to find out what your water usage is since the last read.