National Water Meter Co. founded by John C. Kelley, were pioneers of the American Disc Water Meter.

New York, USA — 1870 to 1940s The National Meter Company shaped the early history of American water metering. Under the engineering leadership of Lewis H. Nash, National introduced the first successful U.S. disc water meter, a design that became the municipal standard for more than half a century. By the 1890s, National was the world’s largest water‑meter manufacturer, supplying cities across the United States with durable, frost‑proof, and highly accurate meters.

Their success rested on engineering excellence, industrial scale, and the groundbreaking work of Nash, whose disc‑meter design became the American standard for decades.

Lewis H. Nash (c.1852–1923) served as National’s chief engineer for more than 35 years.

His contributions include:

- The Crown Water Meter (1879) — a breakthrough in accuracy and reliability

- The first successful American disc water meter (late 1880s)

- Over 100 U.S. patents for pumps, engines, and metering devices

- Engineering principles that shaped U.S. metering for half a century

- Nash’s designs were so influential that National’s disc meters were often informally called “Nash meters.”

KEY PRODUCTS

Disc Water Meters (Nash Disc Meter)

The first widely adopted U.S. disc meter

Durable, frost‑resistant, and easy to service

Became the dominant municipal meter from the 1890s to the 1930s

Crown Water Meter (1879)

Nash’s early breakthrough helped establish National as the premier U.S. meter manufacturer. National (Nash) Engineering Company (USA); founded in 1902. In a few months, Nash produced the "Crown" meter, the first of a large class of single-piston rotary meters, which practically superseded all other forms of water meters at that time. He received over sixty patents for water meters.

One type of meter, the "Gem", was built in sizes up to 36 inches (910 mm). The quantity of water that could be delivered by such a meter was nearly 500,000 US gallons per hour (1,900 m3/h). This presented a problem in testing, as that amount of water could never be taken from the water supply of any city. In fact, a single meter of that size would pass enough water to supply a large town. Nash was given the task of devising a testing plant which re-circulated the water. He accomplished this by the use of a vertical screw pump which lifts the water to a reservoir, from which it passes through the meter to be tested and thence over a weir, where it is measured. The device and the meters both proved to be accurate.

Frost‑Proof Models (1920s–30s) with reinforced housings and insulated chambers.