Water flow meters

Whether you’re looking for water flow meters for irrigating your farm, or for industrial or municipal needs, with some research you will find the right one for your needs.

Before we get started, let’s make sure we’re starting off with a clear understanding of your project needs. Remember, the basis of good flow meter selection is a clear understanding of the requirements of the particular application. A little homework on the front end will prevent a lot of headaches after the fact. You can visit LKI AS, online portal where you can learn everything about water flow meters and their applications and where you can buy the highest quality water flow meters.

The checklist is below. Please note that the checklist is usually a little longer, but we’re operating under the assumption that the type of liquid is already known – water – and because we know the liquid is water, we already know it’s specific gravity and viscosity.

Here is the checklist:

• Are you going to be measuring rates and/or the total flow through the flow meter?
• Will the water coming through the flow meter be clean?
• Will someone be reading the meter locally, or do you need the meter to send out an electronic signal to be read remotely?
• Make sure you know the minimum and maximum flow rates for the flow meter.
• Know the minimum and maximum process pressure.
• Know the minimum and maximum process temperature.
• If the flow meter will be used in a process application, do you know the size of the pipe?

Some other factors to take into account when choosing your water flow meter include the skillsets/familiarity of your personnell with the devices, how much experience they’ve had with calibration and maintenance of the devices, the availability of additional parts if needed, and if you’ve used flow meters before, how long does one usually last in your environment (failure rate/history). Whatever you do, don’t try to pick a water flow meter based solely on price, or choose one on price first and then try to convince yourself it will work. In the long run, it is always more cost effective to select the correct water flow meter for the application than to choose one for the price.

One last tip for choosing a water flow meter: if you have the choice between a water flow meter with moving parts and a water flow meter with no moving parts, you’re always better off with the meter that has no moving parts. Now, because the sensitivity of the readings between the two types of meters differ, your given application may not be suited for a meter with no moving parts; however, if your needs allow for it, always go for the least complicated solution.