This oscillating piston water meter with split case and no serial number fit a ¾” pipe. It was made by the Well Machinery & Supply Company in Fort Worth, Texas. It has a cast-iron body and so was probably made during the materials restrictions of World War II.The city of Fort Worth agreed, in 1930, to purchase 8,000 oscillating piston meters from the California Meter Company of Los Angeles. The Well Machinery & Supply Company acquired California Meter soon thereafter, and advertised Calmet water meters as “A Texas Made Product.”
Ref: “Water Meter Concern Cites Accepted Bid,” Los Angeles Times (Aug. 30, 1930), p. E1.
Well Machinery & Supply Company, Calmet. The Precision Built Water Meter (Fort Worth, n.d.).
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.