Info on DAE water meter - review

Dropping this here in case others are looking for this in the future as I had to work it out myself I have been looking for a water meter that will allow me to do some sub-metering and leak detection. I investigated the DAE meters and, in particular the DAE PD-100. This is a very nice meter that can be mounted in any direction.

The meter is built like a tank. It’s solid brass and bronze. It has a pulse counter output that allows 1 pulse per gallon to be counted. I tested the meter on various flows. It is very accurate down to a little below 1 GPM. This is in keeping with the specs. It continues to register output down to about 0.1 GPM although it is inaccurate, undercounting by as much as 30% at very low flow. Below that it stops counting entirely.

The Hershey meter installed by my utility is getting close to 0.1 GPH, so massively more sensitive.

Overall the DAE seems like a great meter. It would be nice to be able to detect lower flows and a totalizing readout - versus pulse - would be a pluse.

I tested this meter by putting it on a bench and runnging water through at a rate I could measure in a bucket.

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Is the pulse output a problem when working with Home Assistant?

No, as long as you have something to read it. Generally speaking the pulse outputs allow the meters to drift. Most utility grade meters rely on direct read, which would be a bit preferrable to me.

Hi - I’m using the DAE meters as well for a small community water company that I run. Have you been able to integrate the meters into HA via API? And… if so, would you be willing to share the code? I’m new to HA but am learning quickly and DAE meter integration via their public API is my next step. Thx in advance