"EXT" writes:

blueman wrote:
When our in-ground sprinkler is running outside, I can hear the water
meter 'clicking' through all the pipes -- including as far away as our
3rd floor bathroom. All the pipes are secured properly using clamps
and we never hear any other water hammering or vibration noises. The
clicking definitely comes from the water meter itself and sounds like
a metronome beating at at 4-5 beats/second. The pipes themselves are
not detectably physically vibrating (though the sound from the water
meter is obviously transmitted through them).

The irrigation system is high volume in the sense that the supply
lines are 1" copper followed by 1" plastic irrigation piping that feed
3-5 Hunter rotors per zone. I assume other high flow applications
would set the water meter vibrating similarly. Our water pressure is
on the high side (about 80 psi) but that is supposedly normal for our
area.

- Is this "normal" for a water meter?
- Could this be affecting the metering? (either positively or
negatively)
- Any ideas?

No, it is not normal. I had a noisy water meter for many years, once
it alerted me to a broken water pipe by its fast noisy sound. It was
upgraded to a remote read meter and the new meter was silent. Call you
water works or whoever controls and owns the meter.

Well just had it replaced by the city today.
New meter is nicer in that it easier to read and includes (digital)
wheels down to the 1/100th of a cubic foot plus a nice tattle wheel.

However... the meter is now actually a little louder when the
sprinkler runs.

I checked the flow rate and the sprinkler is using about 11
gallons/minute to feed the heads in each zone. The city input pipe is
1.5" galvanized (but 110+ years old so effective diameter is probably
less). With the new meter I am getting slightly higher static and
dynamic pressure (about 198 and 180-185 respectively).

By the way, the water & sewer guy didn't think I should worry about
the high pressure. It seems like it is common in much of the city.