Water meter reading

How water meters are read, by one of our regulars...

We used to have a water meter in the garage. Then, we had a new main installed, with the meter under the pavement. Even so, the water company sent people round to read the old meter in the garage on a regular basis.

I did away with all the old mains piping in the garage, but I kept the old meter. The meter man would come to inspect it. I'd burrow away in a corner of the garage to unearth the meter, and I'd hand it to him. He would then carefully note down the reading on his machine and hand it back to me. Not once did the meter man say that this performance was at all surprising or out of the ordinary.