The Union Water Meter Company was established in 1868, by Phinehas Ball, a hydraulic engineer who had worked on the design and construction of the Worcester Water Works, and a local mechanic named Benejah Fitts. Its initial aim was manufacturing the reciprocating meters designed by Ball and Fitts. The firm was reorganized in 1875, prospered for many years, and folded in the mid-1930s.
After bringing his first meter to market, Fitts began working on a meter with a set of pistons that rotated into and out of the stream of water. Judges at the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association fair of 1874 noted that the rotary-piston form had been in operation for about two years and, being less expensive than the reciprocating-piston, as well as simpler in construction and less liable to get out of order, was "fast taking the lead in the market." Of the six rotary-piston meters on display, Union’s example was deemed the best and was awarded a silver medal. Union showed both forms at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 and must have been pleased when the judges found that both had "great merit" and "gave very satisfactory results under pressures varying from five to eighty pounds." By 1890, Union had made and sold some 31,000 meters. Most were of the rotary form, and most were used on hydraulic elevators and locomotive stand pipes.
This is a rotary-piston meter made by the Union Water Meter Company in Worcester, Massachusetts. It fits a ⅝” pipe, carries serial number 155,010, and probably dates from around 1920.
Ref: Union Water Meter Company, Price List No. 52 (Worcester, 1922), p. 15.
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