Wireless Water Meters and Google Street View

We had our water meter replaced a few years ago. It used to be they would have to go down in the basement to read someone’s water meter, which was a pain for everyone involved. They replaced our meter to emit a wireless signal of some kind – this allows them to stay outside the house and capture the meter readings without entering the house. The signal is strong enough to be picked up from the street. I’m not sure how it works since it doesn’t have a power cord. I wonder if the water pressure moves a small turbine in the meter and creates enough of an electric charge to send the signal. That’s a good idea if they’re not already doing it. I’ll Google it someday to find out.

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Speaking of Google, some of you probably know what Google Street View is. You can zoom all the way down in Google Maps to actually see what it is like to be standing in the street at that location. See this page to get an overview of Street View. Here is a page with an overview of the vehicles they use and how it works.

Google uses a car, or sometimes a modified adult tricycle, to ride around city streets and take pictures as it goes. It takes pictures on both sides of the street. A GPS unit in the car/cycle will keep track of where the pictures are taken, then use them when someone wants to see a location in Street View.

In Street View you can “drive” through a street or downtown area by clicking on the arrow keys on the screen, and Street View will change the pictures you're looking at to create a video of sorts.

One day last summer I was in yard doing some work, and I saw a car with a bunch of odd electronic devices hanging off the side and the roof. It had a very small sign on the door that I couldn’t read, but it looked familiar – I though it had to be the Google Street View car. They were taking pictures of our street and houses, and pretty soon I’d be able to see my yard online up close and personal.

A few minutes later, I noticed the car coming through again. I was surprised, because I didn’t think they would have time to go through every street twice, but I didn’t want to miss my chance to be on Street View for all to see. As the car approached, I faced the street and waved to the car as it drove slowly by.

This time I could make out the sign on the door. The car was from the utilities department, and the equipment attached to the side were the devices that received the wireless signal my water meter was sending.

The guy driving the car thought I was nuts.