What is this ?

I never would have got this. I've read about the development of remote reading for gas and electric, but not water, and I didn't know it was possible.

If this device is so easily removed from the meter that you can put it on your coat to take a picture, what's to prevent customers from cheating the water utility by taking it out when they use water?

Is there an advantage to having the water meter inside a building? I'd just as soon it stayed outside. Ours is under the sidewalk.

I found a thing called a sewage regulation valve that looks very like your object. But I must admit that I had interpreted metering more broadly as monitoring or controlling.

This one is difficult!

OhLook, it is connected by wire. I concealed the wire in the photo for the purpose of the competition.

Nice challenge. I was thinking of a remote shutoff, but would have guessed transmitter anyways... therefore... what is this?

Having the meter inside would be an advantage where it gets real cold. You have to bury water pipes below the line where they freeze on the coldest days of winter. Here in the South, that would be inches. Up in Canada or places far north like Canada that can be several feet. In those areas, putting it in the basement would be much cheaper than digging a 4 or 5 foot deep pit just to put the meter in.

Other than that it is probably easier to put the water meter inside when you don't have a yard in places such as apartments and high rise units.

Benitoite wrote in post #17461262
what is this?

Is it a machine you feed something into for processing?

Nogo wrote in post #17461266
Having the meter inside would be an advantage where it gets real cold. You have to bury water pipes below the line where they freeze on the coldest days of winter. . . .

Other than that it is probably easier to put the water meter inside when you don't have a yard in places such as apartments and high rise units.

I see. I wouldn't want a water meter as part of the decor, though. Around here, the standard practice for apartments seems to be that the building owner pays the water bill. Units don't have their own meters.

OhLook wrote in post #17461294
Is it a machine you feed something into for processing?
...

Not in the sense of feeding scantrons into a scantron grader, but in the metaphysical sense of 'thing' then that would be one way of looking at it.

And by metaphysical I don't mean to imply any type of mumbo-jumbo. More of a ''black box'' input-output type of "thing".

QUA = Quantum?

Not quantum...

Hint time?
It's QUARTZ.

well, it looks like one of those digital photo storage devices that were all the rage a few years ago, but the branding escapes me. I know that logo from somewhere though!

ECC233 wrote in post #17465491
well, it looks like one of those digital photo storage devices that were all the rage a few years ago, but the branding escapes me. I know that logo from somewhere though!

It's not one of those.

its an alarm clock!

ChibiM wrote in post #17471574
its an alarm clock!

If you're right, then this was clever:

Benitoite wrote in post #17465476
Hint time?