Clamp-on ultrasonic flow meter for audits

I used a clamp-on ultrasonic flow meter on our 4" main at 5 a.m. last Tuesday during a nozzle package change and found two greens loops running 12–15% high versus spec; after recalculating station flows and trimming run times, nightly demand dropped about 18,000 gallons. Anyone favor temporary mag meters or trust controller-calculated flow for seasonal audits when the goal is tighter scheduling and early leak detection?

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I lean clamp-on for audits — “trust but verify” — and sanity-check one station with a quick nozzle catch against the meter; controller calc is like a weather app: good for trends, not absolutes. On 4", give it about 10D upstream/5D downstream and clean a paint-free patch for the transducers; if you don’t have that straight run, a temp mag spool is safer.

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