🏭 Union Water Meter Company – Overview & History The Union Water Meter Company was founded 1868 and located at 31-33 Hermon Street, Worcester, Massachusetts USA, by Phinehas Ball, hydraulic engineer involved in the Worcester Water Works and Benejah (Benaiah) Fitts, a local mechanic. The Company was one of the early American manufacturers that helped standardize municipal metering during the shift from flat‑rate billing to consumption‑based water supply.

The company initially manufactured reciprocating piston meters designed by Ball and Fitts.

It reorganized in 1875 and went on to become one of the major early American water‑meter manufacturers.

🔧 Products and Technological Contributions

1. Ball & Fitts’ Reciprocating Meters (Early Models)

Early meters were single‑valved, double‑acting piston meters.

Materials: small sizes in brass, larger ones in cast iron lined with brass.

By 1873, about 1,300 units were in use across U.S. cities from Boston to Cincinnati.

2. Rotary‑Piston Meters

Developed after 1872; simpler and cheaper than reciprocating designs.

Judges at the 1874 Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association Fair praised Union's rotary meter as the best among six entries and awarded it a silver medal.

By 1890, the company had produced ~31,000 meters, mostly rotary models used widely on hydraulic elevators and locomotive standpipes.

3. Columbia Water Meter (Mid‑1890s)

A turbine‑type meter designed for corrosive or debris‑laden water supplies.

A split‑case meter fitting ⅝" pipes.

4. King Disk Meter (1905–1935)

The disk water meter featured a Hard‑rubber disk with Hard‑rubber gears & bronze pinions with all moving parts in one accessible unit.

📉 Decline and Closure

The company continued producing water meters into the early 20th century, but ceased operations in the mid‑1930s.

⭐ Summary

The Union Water Meter Company was one of America’s foundational water‑meter manufacturers, operational from 1868 to the mid‑1930s, and known for:

- Early piston‑type water meters

- Award‑winning rotary‑piston technology

- The Columbia and King Disk meters

- Widespread adoption across the USA by water departments and industrial installations

Union meter models are preserved, including the Columbia, Rotary Piston, and King meters at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

The HWM.Museum has in its collection a rare 1880's Union water pressure gauge.