What Kind of Flow Meter Should You Buy?

Things to Consider when Choosing a Flow Meter

Marsha Campbell Mathews UCCE Farm Advisor, Stanislaus County Do you need the meter to be portable? Insertion magmeters and dopplers can be easily moved from site to site if there is more than one pond or more than one outlet to the pond. An insertion meter will handle a wider variety of installation locations, but requires a fitting to be installed on the pipe and an initial profiling of each site. A doppler meter requires no special fitting and is very easy to set up, however it is more limited in the types of situations that can be accurately metered. How large is your pipeline? Most tube style flow meters increase dramatically in price as the pipeline size increases. The one partial exception to this is the ISCO Unimag which uses a less expensive PVC housing and removable sensors, but the price can still be quite high for pipe diameters larger than about 12 inches. Doppler or insertion style magmeter prices are the same regardless of pipe size. What is your pipeline made of? A doppler meter cannot be used on porous or insulating materials such as concrete or asbestos and may have trouble with pipes that have a liner. PVC pipe may not be able to support the weight of a heavy spool-type magmeter without modification. Doppler and insertion magmeters weigh comparatively little. Do you plan to meter high solids material? When pumping sludge that is high in solids, a coating can form over the interior of the pipe when the pump is shut off and the material dries. A coating covering sensor electrodes will cause inaccuracies in flow readings. On an insertion-style meter with a protrusion of about 1 inch into the flow, limited experience has shown that this coating will be worn away once the pump is turned back on. However, even though the slanted meter tip protruded only inch into the pipe, in another location the insertion-style meter sensor fouled enough to interfere with the reading. Local experience with spool-type magmeters under high solids conditions is currently not available. Some magmeters claim to have self-cleaning sensors. Meters with bullet style electrodes are preferred over those with button style electrodes because they protrude into the flow and can more quickly be scoured clean. Insertion style magmeters can be easily removed from the pipeline, cleaned and reinserted prior to use. A system which would allow flushing the meter section of the pipe with clean water at the end of an irrigation cycle would probably clean a spool style magmeter. Doppler meters may start dropping off in accuracy at solids of more than about 10% because the sound will be reflected back off the slower moving water at the outside of the pipe. Electromagnetic meters start losing signal strength at about 12 to 15% solids. It would be unusual, but not impossible, to be pumping sludge What is struvite? this thick from dairy lagoons (for reference, canned tomato sauce is Struvite is a crystalline about 15% solids). compound (magnesium Does your pipeline experience buildup of deposits? If your system is so concentrated that your pipes tend to clog with struvite or other deposits, consider a meter that can be cleaned if necessary.
ammonium phosphate) that can build up when there are high concentrations of magnesium, phosphorus and ammonium and the pH is high.
September 21, 2000

University of California Cooperative Extension, Stanislaus County

How close will the meter be to a throttling valve, pump, pipe discharge, elbow or tees? A doppler meter may not read accurately when installed closer than 30 pipe diameters from a pump, throttling valve or pipe discharge. Magmeters require much less separation, especially if they are separated from the valve, pump or discharge by an elbow. A meter that can be profiled may be accurate in situations where proper distance from elbows, tees, valves and other flow distorting situations is marginal if the profiling is done at the expected flow rate. Additional profiles may be needed to establish the proper coefficient at other flow rates. Do you have the ability to install a very heavy meter? Some of the larger spool type magmeters can weigh several hundred pounds. What kind of technical expertise is available to assist in setting up a meter? Most tube style meters are relatively simple to install and require no additional calibration. Some tube style meters will need additional calibration. An insertion style magmeter will require an initial profiling that may take from two to three hours to perform but will not need to be repeated for that installation. During the profiling procedure, the pond water will usually need to be running at maximum pump capacity so there needs to be a place for the water to go during this process. Who will be reading the meter? Will the display work for them? Will the controller box hold up in your location? Some people find some meter displays awkward to read because numbers may be too small or scroll by too fast. Some are not lit at night, making it awkward to read the meter, adjust the valve and/or write down numbers by flashlight. How good is customer service and how fast can repairs be made? Most of the types of meters in use thus far have required at least some service or repair in at least one location. Once you begin depending on the meter, turn around time for repairs can become critical. Large tube style meters must be repaired in place, while doppler and Marsh McBirney 282, and critical parts of the ISCO Unimag can be easily shipped. The location of the manufacturer may also play a part, since a local manufacturer may be better able to send out repair personnel. Do you have access to 120 V power or do you need a meter that runs on 12 V DC or other battery? Many flow meters have 12V power supply as an option. Usually, the 12 V and 120 V are not interchangeable. Using standard power converter to give 12 V power from a 120 supply is not recommended because proper functioning of magmeter electronics depends on a constant voltage power supply such as that supplied by a battery or high quality industrial grade power converter. Since flow meters draw very little current, a 120V transformer on the pump power supply is a good option. How accurate do you need the meter to be? Most flow meters have the capability of being very accurate given the right circumstances. Fouled sensors, improper placement, extremely low flows, etc. may interfere with getting the correct flow. The difference between 0.5% and 1% accuracy is irrelevant compared to the difficulty in accurately estimating run times or concentration of nutrients in the lagoon water.

Information is supplied for educational purposes only. UCCE does not endorse any brand of meter. Product names are supplied to simplify information. No endorsement of products mentioned is implied or criticism of similar products not mentioned is intended.
University of California Cooperative Extension, Stanislaus County September 21, 2000