Union Rotary Piston Water Meter
date: label: date made
content: ca 1920
name: label: maker
content: Union Water Meter Company
notes: label: Description
content: The Union Water Meter Company was established in 1868, by Phinehas Ball, a hydraulic engineer who had worked on the design and construction of the Worcester Water Works, and a local mechanic named Benejah Fitts. Its initial aim was manufacturing the reciprocating meters designed by Ball and Fitts. The firm was reorganized in 1875, prospered for many years, and folded in the mid-1930s.
label: Description
content: After bringing his first meter to market, Fitts began working on a meter with a set of pistons that rotated into and out of the stream of water. Judges at the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association fair of 1874 noted that the rotary-piston form had been in operation for about two years and, being less expensive than the reciprocating-piston, as well as simpler in construction and less liable to get out of order, was "fast taking the lead in the market." Of the six rotary-piston meters on display, Union’s example was deemed the best and was awarded a silver medal. Union showed both forms at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 and must have been pleased when the judges found that both had "great merit" and "gave very satisfactory results under pressures varying from five to eighty pounds." By 1890, Union had made and sold some 31,000 meters. Most were of the rotary form, and most were used on hydraulic elevators and locomotive stand pipes.
label: Description
content: This is a rotary-piston meter made by the Union Water Meter Company in Worcester, Massachusetts. It fits a ⅝” pipe, carries serial number 155,010, and probably dates from around 1920.
label: Description
content: Ref: Union Water Meter Company, <i>Price List No. 52</i> (Worcester, 1922), p. 15.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Worcester
topic: label: Subject
content: Water
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
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content: Natural Resources
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content: Water Meters
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content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: A. A. Hirsch
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.325886
label: accession number
content: 245003
label: catalog number
content: 325886
objectType: label: Object Name
content: water meter
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)