South Carolina Code of Regulations › Chapter 103 - PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION › Article 4 - GAS SYSTEMS › Subarticle 6 - INSPECTION AND TESTS › Section 103-474 - Facilities and Equipment for Testing

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 6, June 28, 2024
1. General. Each gas utility shall, unless
				specifically excused by the commission, provide such laboratory, meter-testing
				equipment and other equipment and facilities as may be necessary to make the
				tests required of it by these rules or other orders of the commission or as
				requested by the ORS. The apparatus and equipment so provided shall be subject
				to the approval of the commission, and it shall be available at all times for
				the inspection or use of any member or authorized representative of the
				ORS.
2. Meter Shop. Each gas
				utility shall maintain or designate a meter shop for the purpose of inspecting,
				testing and repairing meters. The shop shall be open for inspection by
				authorized representatives of the ORS at all reasonable times, and the
				facilities and equipment, as well as the methods of measurements and testing
				employed, shall be subject to the approval of the commission. The area within
				the meter shop used for the testing of meters shall be designed so that the
				meters and meter testing equipment are protected from drafts and excessive
				changes in temperature. The meters to be tested shall be stored in such manner
				that the temperature of the meters is substantially the same as the temperature
				of the prover.
3. Working
				Standards.
A. Each gas utility furnishing
				metered gas service shall own an approved type of meter prover or designate a
				meter shop which is equipped with an approved type of meter prover preferably
				of not less than two cubic feet capacity, equipped with suitable thermometers
				and other necessary accessories, and it shall maintain such equipment in proper
				adjustment so that it shall be capable of determining the accuracy of any
				service meter to within one-half of one percent.
B. Bell provers shall be so placed that they
				will not be subjected to drafts or excessive temperature variations.
C. Means shall be provided to maintain the
				temperature of the liquid in bell provers at substantially the same level as
				the ambient temperature in the prover room.
D. Each gas utility having meters which are
				too large for testing on a five cubic foot bell prover shall use a properly
				calibrated test meter or a properly designed flow prover for testing the large
				meters.
E. The accuracy of all
				provers and methods of operating them will be established from time to time by
				a representative of the ORS. All alterations, accidents, or repairs which might
				affect the accuracy of any meter prover or the method of operating it shall be
				promptly reported in writing to the commission and the ORS.
F. Working standards must be checked
				periodically by comparison with a secondary standard.
1. Bell provers must be checked with a cubic
				foot bottle which has been calibrated by the National Bureau of Standards,
				unless another standard is authorized by the commission.
2. Transfer and Flow Provers must be checked
				with a bell prover of adequate capacity which has been calibrated by
				representatives of the National Bureau of Standards unless another standard is
				authorized by the commission.
G. Extreme care must be exercised in the use
				and handling of standards to assure that their accuracy is not
				disturbed.
H. Each gas utility must
				have properly calibrated orifices, as may be necessary, to achieve the rates of
				flow required to test the meters on its system.