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Weights and Measures Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1605)

Regulations are current to 2024-02-20 and last amended on 2019-06-17. Previous Versions

PART VSpecifications Relating to Devices (continued)

DIVISION XIVolumetric Liquid Meters (continued)

Installation and Use

 A meter shall be properly suited to the particular installation in which it is to be used, with respect to pressure, rate of flow, temperature, compatibility with the characteristics of the liquid to be measured and method of use so that, for all normally occurring variations in operating conditions, measurement by the meter remains within the applicable limits of error.

  • SOR/89-570, s. 6(F)

 The equipment and accessories installed with a meter shall be selected and installed so as to minimize their interference with the proper operation and accuracy of measurement of the meter.

 The pump suction piping installed with a meter shall be as short and unencumbered as possible and all liquid supply systems associated with a meter shall be arranged to minimize the ingress of air, water or other foreign matter, including any liquid other than the one the meter is intended to measure.

 A meter and all equipment and accessories associated with it in an installation shall be installed so as to minimize the evolution of dissolved air and gases and to minimize the vaporization of the liquid prior to or during measurement or in the delivery conduit.

  •  (1) A meter shall be installed so that it can only be operated when the liquid in the meter is at or above atmospheric pressure, and in any installation where the liquid pressure could fall below atmospheric pressure, a suitable vacuum breaker shall be installed at the outlet of the meter.

  • (2) A meter shall be operated only when the liquid in the meter is at or above atmospheric pressure.

 When a meter is installed in a measuring system, the system shall be equipped with effective automatic means to minimize the passage of air or vapour through the meter.

 A meter shall have installed immediately upstream therefrom a screen, strainer, filter, integral filter or such other approved means as will prevent foreign matter from passing through the meter.

 For the purposes of sections 276 and 277, a close-coupled strainer and automatic air release valve is sufficient in meter installations where only free air or vapour is to be removed from the liquid.

 The air or vapour eliminator installed with a meter shall minimize the passage of air or vapour through the measuring element of the meter when the supply of liquid is exhausted or appropriate means shall be provided to automatically stop the flow of liquid or to indicate to the person using the meter that air or vapour is passing through the meter.

 Sealed flow control valves or other means shall be installed with a meter to limit the flow through the meter to its rated maximum flow.

 Unless a meter is equipped with a reversing register and totalizer in accordance with section 250, it shall be installed so as to minimize any reverse flow through it or the piping or equipment upstream or downstream from it that could affect the accuracy of its measurement.

  •  (1) In this section, transfer point means the fixed point in a measuring assembly where transfer of possession of a quantity of liquid contained in the measuring assembly takes place.

  • (2) A meter shall be installed so that the piping between the meter and the transfer point remains full of liquid during and after a transaction unless the liquid, because of its nature, cannot remain in the meter, and

    • (a) in the case of a meter installed to deliver a quantity of liquid, so that the piping downstream of the transfer point shall empty at the completion of the transaction; and

    • (b) in the case of a meter installed to receive a quantity of liquid, so that the piping upstream of the transfer point shall empty at the completion of the transaction.

  • (3) Subject to section 289 and except as otherwise allowed by any additional specifications established pursuant to section 27, a meter shall be installed

    • (a) so that all piping downstream of the meter, where the meter is installed to deliver a quantity of liquid, or all piping upstream of the meter, where the meter is installed to receive a quantity of liquid, may be readily examined; and

    • (b) with only one delivery outlet unless the meter is installed

      • (i) so that diversion of flow is readily apparent to the purchaser or the purchaser’s agent or mandatary by automatic means such as visible valves or lights with explanatory signs that indicate which outlets are in operation,

      • (ii) to fuel or defuel aircraft, or

      • (iii) to be used exclusively to load vehicle-mounted propane tanks with a capacity greater than 5 000 L.

  • SOR/90-118, s. 38
  • SOR/2014-111, ss. 35(E), 46

 A meter, other than a slow-flow meter, slow-flow dispenser, dispenser of the service station type for motor fuel or a meter equipped with a preset valve, shall have a quick-acting valve installed near its outlet for examination purposes.

  • SOR/93-234, s. 2(F)
  • SOR/2014-111, s. 46

 A meter, other than a slow-flow meter, shall be installed so that it has a convenient means for delivering the measured product when the meter installation is examined.

  • SOR/2014-111, s. 36

 Any automatic valve that can have a throttling effect on the flow of liquid shall be installed downstream from the meter.

  •  (1) Unless otherwise authorized by specifications established by the Minister, the outlet end of the delivery hose of a pump-supplied meter shall be equipped with a spring-loaded anti-drain valve or its equivalent.

  • (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a meter with collapsible hoses used on aircraft refuellers or to a meter designed for defuelling aircraft.

 The discharge hose installed with a meter supplied by gravity head may be of the dry hose type without a shut-off valve at the discharge end, but it shall be of such length, size and stiffness as to ensure complete drainage and there shall be means provided in the meter system to show the empty condition of the hose and to prevent the meter from draining.

 Where it is necessary

  • (a) to limit changes in the viscosity of, or the solubility of material dissolved in, the liquid to be measured by the meter, or

  • (b) to limit the rate of change of the temperature or pressure of the liquid to be measured by the meter when the meter is equipped with an automatic compensator,

appropriate automatic controls shall be installed in the meter system to permit the meter to measure accurately.

  • SOR/90-118, s. 39
  •  (1) The piping on the downstream side of meters may be concealed and the outlets interconnected where the meters

    • (a) are used

      • (i) at pipeline terminals, or

      • (ii) exclusively for loading or unloading railway tank cars or loading or unloading tanker ships; and

    • (b) have adequately interlocked manual or automatic valves with means for leakage detection incorporated in the meter systems to prevent the diversion of measured liquid.

  • (2) The piping on the downstream side of the meters may be concealed where the meters have more than one outlet and are used exclusively for refuelling trucks.

  • SOR/2005-297, s. 21

 A meter shall be operated only at flow rates between the rated minimum and maximum flow rates marked on the name plate of the meter.

 If any part of a meter system is drained for any reason the entire system shall be re-primed and re-filled and the register set to zero before the meter is used for the next measurement.

 A flow transmitter for input to an electronic data processing system may be attached to a liquid meter and the output from the data processing system used for invoicing purposes if the purchaser of the liquid being measured or their agent or mandatary is given a printed copy of the data recorded by the data processing system before they leave the trader’s premises.

  • SOR/2014-111, s. 37

 A flow transmitter may be installed at a key-operated self-service meter installation to drive the auxiliary accumulative totalizers for individual customers if the purchaser of the liquid being measured is able to visually check the advance of their totalizer against the indication of the primary indicator at the time of delivery of the liquid.

  • SOR/2014-111, s. 37

 Where a meter mounted on a vehicle tank is used in circumstances where the purchaser does not normally view the meter during delivery of a liquid, the meter shall be equipped with an interlocked ticket printer that shall be used for each delivery of the liquid.

 Tickets used with a meter equipped with an automatic temperature or other compensator shall bear statements that the volume indicated thereon has been adjusted to correspond to an equivalent volume at a standard condition stated on the ticket.

DIVISION XIIMeasuring and Vehicle Tanks

 [Repealed, SOR/2014-111, s. 38]

Design, Composition and Construction

 A measuring tank and its piping system and any equipment or accessories that can affect its accuracy of measurement shall be of such design, composition and construction that when a delivery is made from any capacity indication, the quantity of liquid delivered through any discharge valve rigidly connected to the measuring tank is within the prescribed limits of error for the measuring tank.

  • SOR/89-570, s. 6(F)
  • SOR/2014-111, s. 45

 The shells or bulkheads of a measuring tank shall consist of such material and be so constructed that they will not become distorted under any condition of loading under normal conditions of use.

  • SOR/2014-111, s. 45

 A measuring tank shall have an effective means of automatic venting to permit the free passage of air into and out of the measuring tank when it is emptied and filled.

  • SOR/2014-111, s. 45

 Subject to section 320, there shall be no pipe or other flow connection between two or more measuring tanks that are separately calibrated, but a battery of calibrated measuring tanks may be connected to a common discharge manifold that prevents flow from one measuring tank to another.

  • SOR/2014-111, s. 45

 The capacity indicators on a measuring tank shall consist of

  • (a) graduations on or adjacent to a gauge glass or tube; or

  • (b) appropriate internal capacity indicators.

  • SOR/93-234, s. 2
  • SOR/2014-111, s. 45

 A capacity indicator shall only be installed in a measuring tank at any level where a quantity of liquid equal to the limit of error referred to in section 325 for the indicated quantity causes the liquid at that level to rise by at least 2.5 mm or 3/32 of an inch.

  • SOR/89-570, s. 6(F)
  • SOR/90-118, s. 41
  • SOR/2014-111, s. 45

 A maximum capacity indicator shall be positioned to allow a volume equal to at least one per cent of the capacity of the measuring tank for the thermal expansion of the liquid.

  • SOR/2014-111, s. 45

 When an internal capacity indicator is installed in a measuring tank,

  • (a) the indicator shall be attached to a permanent section of the measuring tank; and

  • (b) a means shall be provided to attach a seal on the indicator.

  • SOR/93-234, s. 2
  • SOR/94-691, s. 4
  • SOR/2014-111, s. 45

 A measuring tank equipped with an internal capacity indicator shall have a suitable opening for the convenient installation, adjustment and sealing of the indicator assembly and the capacity indicator shall be located so that it can be seen under normal conditions of use.

  • SOR/2014-111, s. 45

 Gauge glass fittings shall not, except on measuring tanks for liquefied gases, be of the ball check type or be of any type designed to prevent loss of liquid in case of glass breakage, but a bottom gauge glass fitting may include an emergency valve if means are provided thereon to allow an inspector to seal the valve in the open position.

  • SOR/2014-111, s. 45

 The discharge hose on a measuring tank that discharges by gravity shall normally be of the dry hose type, without a shut-off valve at its discharge end, shall be of such length, size and stiffness as will ensure its complete drainage and shall be provided with a means to indicate when all of the measured liquid has been delivered thereby.

  • SOR/2014-111, s. 45
  •  (1) A measuring tank that discharges through a pump shall have an automatic means of ensuring that

    • (a) the quantity of liquid in the pump suction and discharge lines remains constant; and

    • (b) all the measured liquid is delivered through the pump.

  • (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a measuring tank used for bunker oils and similar liquids.

  • SOR/2014-111, s. 45

 A fixed measuring tank shall have suitably installed and identified levelling ledges that will permit the detection of any tilting of the measuring tank from the position in which it was calibrated.

  • SOR/2014-111, s. 45
  •  (1) A portable measuring tank shall be equipped with permanent level gauges to enable it to be levelled for examination and use.

  • (2) A portable measuring tank with a gauge glass shall be equipped with levelling jacks to enable it to be levelled for examination and use.

  • SOR/93-234, s. 2(F)
  • SOR/2014-111, s. 39

 A vehicle tank shall be designed so as to permit the complete discharge of the contents of the tank and piping when the vehicle is on a surface that is within three degrees of level or shall be equipped with clearly defined and appropriately located means to indicate when an off-level position will prevent the tank and the piping from filling or draining properly.

 An internal capacity indicator on a vehicle tank shall be centrally located in the tank or compartment, affixed to a mounting bracket on the dome neck by brazing, welding or bolts and shall be sealable.

 When two or more capacity indicators on a vehicle tank are affixed to a mounting bracket, the bracket shall be held in a vertical position by a suitable brace or other reinforcement.

 Internal capacity indicators on a vehicle tank shall be adjustable in increments of 0.8 mm or 1/32 inch or less.

 When a vehicle tank is composed of two or more separate measuring compartments, any space between the compartments shall be equipped with drains capable of indicating leakage into the space.

 The outlet piping from a vehicle tank may be split into a bottom-fill connection and a drain connection, but where the bottom loading stub can trap air in excess of 0.125 per cent of the capacity of the tank to the lowest marker when the tank is filled from the top, the tank shall be calibrated for top-fill.

 

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