on 11/01/2017, dennis@home supposed :
Water meter that can be remotely read are common.
There is a cable to a plastic dome somewhere on the outside of the building
and they can read it from there.
Flats often have a bank of such terminations so that all the meters can be
rad in one place.
They sometimes fit that type of meter in the road, its why there is a plastic
cap in the centre of the covers in the pavement.

No dome on our meter and it can be remotely read. It just has the brass
part with the two pipes - the base, then the digits plus a plastic
cased section which are able to swivel on the base to it to be set to
an angle where it can be read.

YW assured us it could be read remotely from the road at the end of our
drive, through the house walls to where it is located at the back of
the house.