phsm-hwmm-meter-study

Metal composition study of  Australia's earliest Manufactured water meters — (1890's – 1930's)
In late 2025 delegates from the Sydney Power-House Museum (SPHM) visited the Historic Water Meter Museum (HWMM) to inspect a number of water meters selected for donation to the SPHM.
As a result of the visit curiosity was sparked in regards to the cross similarities of the various manufacturer's water meters from the era. 
This led to four selected water meters being analyzed via XRF test at the SPHM Castle Hill science laboratory. 
The tests were conducted to try and determine if the manufacturers were using a common foundry using the same metal compound compositions.

⚙️ Scenario
• All of Australia’s earliest manufacturers based their meters on the Siemens inferential measurement principle design water meter. • The primary tier manufacturers used common uniform designed body housings, and all looked similar. 
• The first top housing and internal registers were all circular in design with only 2 dial registers for ¾” in gallons from 1885 till 1925.• It is observed that sometime on or after 1926 the top display registers transitioned to 5 dial registers in rectangular design.• The earlier circular design registers could be upgraded to the later rectangular design, thus retaining the housing in situ.• From about 1926 till the 1940's the manufacturers water meters looked very similar.

The five main proven early Australian manufacturers were;
- Davies Shephard. VIC & NSW
- John Danks & Sons. VIC & NSW
- W. Mclean & Co. VIC
- Clyde Engineering Co. NSW
- Intercolonial Boring Co 
with exception of Ramsden & Chaplain who may had been a contract foundry for meter bodies only.

🔍 What an XRF metal test actually doesAn XRF analyzer fires high‑energy X‑rays at a metal surface. This knocks electrons out of their inner shells. When outer electrons fall back to fill the gap, the atom emits secondary fluorescent X‑rays.Each element emits X‑rays with unique energies, so the detector reads these “fingerprints” and calculates:- Which elements are present (qualitative analysis)- How much of each element (quantitative analysis)- This produces a full elemental composition of the metal. 

Pictured below are the four water meters tested;

🏢 Water Meter Composition Analysis Report
The finding can be found at the following links
Water Meter data analysis           - PDF doc. (133kb)
Water Meter XRF results/report   - PDF doc. (4.6mb)
Water Meter element table           - PDF doc. (90kb)  

⭐ Evaluations and Conclusions 
Three of the four water meter sample main body casings (No: 1, 2 & 3) spanning manufacturing dates from 1926 to 1930 are very similar in composition with the main elements of Copper (Cu) 85%, Zinc (Zn) 2%, Tin (Sn) 8% and Lead (Pb) 2%. Two of the meters Davies Shephard and Clyde Engineering were made in Sydney and one from IBC in Brisbane. Whereas it was found that the sample no:4 -Davies Shephard unit made in Melbourne- dating from an estimated manufactured date of late 1890's to 1925 had a significantly higher lead (Pb) content of some 8%. 

Key points:Higher lead content generally means a greater reservoir of lead is available to leach into water under certain conditions.However, water chemistry is often the dominant factor. Acidic water, low-mineral water, high temperatures, or stagnant water can increase lead release.An older brass meter with 8% lead may not necessarily release four times as much lead as a 2% lead alloy. Corrosion resistance, alloy composition, manufacturing method, and protective scale formation all influence leaching.Modern "low-lead" plumbing standards generally limit wetted surfaces to very low weighted-average lead contents because even small amounts of lead exposure can be harmful, especially to infants and children.

For historical water metersMany 19th and early 20th century brass and gunmetal water meters contained lead levels ranging from several percent up to over 10% because lead improved machinability and casting characteristics. These meters were not designed with modern lead-exposure standards in mind.

This Museum extends thanks to Jordan Aarsen and Angelique Hutchison at the Powerhouse Conservation department.

Metals composition study on early Australian Water Meters

• The primary tier manufacturers used common uniform designed body housings, and all looked similar. • The first top housing and internal registers were all circular in design with only 2 dial registers for ¾” in gallons from 1885 till 1925.

• It is observed that sometime on or after 1926 the top display registers transitioned to 5 dial registers in rectangular design.

• The earlier circular design registers could be upgraded to the later rectangular design, thus retaining the housing in situ.

An XRF analyzer fires high‑energy X‑rays at a metal surface. This knocks electrons out of their inner shells. When outer electrons fall back to fill the gap, the atom emits secondary fluorescent X‑rays.

Each element emits X‑rays with unique energies, so the detector reads these “fingerprints” and calculates:

- Which elements are present (qualitative analysis)

- How much of each element (quantitative analysis)

- This produces a full elemental composition of the metal. Pictured below are the four water meters tested;

Higher lead content generally means a greater reservoir of lead is available to leach into water under certain conditions.

However, water chemistry is often the dominant factor. Acidic water, low-mineral water, high temperatures, or stagnant water can increase lead release.

An older brass meter with 8% lead may not necessarily release four times as much lead as a 2% lead alloy. Corrosion resistance, alloy composition, manufacturing method, and protective scale formation all influence leaching.

Modern "low-lead" plumbing standards generally limit wetted surfaces to very low weighted-average lead contents because even small amounts of lead exposure can be harmful, especially to infants and children. For historical water meters

Historic Water Meter Museum

Contact: Alex Manu

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