For most houses, there is a small black plastic pad mounted on the outside of your house. This pad is connected by wires to the water meter in your home. The meter reader has an electronic reading device that he touches to the pad and is able to obtain a read. That read is then transmitted through radio frequency to the meter equipment that stores all the meter readings on his route.Some of the newer homes have a radio read transmitter box on the outside of the house that allows the meter reader to just walk by the house and the equipment will automatically pick up the read. This means that the meter reader does not have to go on that property.
The meter reader generally does not have to go inside your house to obtain a meter reading. Occasionally, the meter reader might have difficulty obtaining a good read. On those occasions, the meter reader will knock on the door to ask if he can go inside to obtain a read or, if the homeowner does not appear to be home, he will leave a card on the door stating that the homeowner needs to call the office.
Do not ever let anyone into your home without asking for proper identification. All employees of the Westfield Water Resources Department carry identification badges. If you're still in doubt, please call the Water Resources Department Office at (413) 572-6243 and we will let you know if our meter readers are reading in your area.