Summary

This 'Type A 'Orivent' Water Meter Recorder (Serial No. 2076) was made by George Kent Ltd. This London-based firm supplied flow measurement devices for water supply and sewerage applications, boiler house, gas and steam meters as well as engine room control equipment. The company works were in Luton, UK with a branch in Perth, Western Australia. By 1922, the company claimed to have installed 7,000 flow metering units throughout the world including places such as Hong Kong, India, Japan and Argentina. In Western Australia, eight of Kent's Type A recorders were used for the Goldfields Water Supply pipeline to record flow rates. The New South Wales government also purchased the Type A recorder for use in Sydney and regional water and sewerage systems. By 1922 the Victorian agents for Kent equipment was Gibson, Battle (Melbourne) Pty Ltd of 84 William Street which had opened a Melbourne branch in 1912 having been established in Sydney in 1883.

This Type A Orivent Meter Recorder was installed in the MMBW Sewerage Pumping Station in 1923. It features a drum chart recorder to record fluctuations in water pressure and the rate of flow was indicated on six small dial gauges. The Orivent tube is a modified venturi measurement device invented by Mr Clemens Herschel of the Builders Iron Foundry in the USA whereby pressure and flow is recorded as water passes through a restriction (venturi) in the pipe which can be measured with a mercury-filled 'U' tube for pressure and a clockwork mechanism for the flow rate. The Orivent tube is less expensive than a full venturi meter device and is used where some loss of 'head' or water pressure is not critical.

George Kent Ltd supplied a range of other types of venturi recorders and rate of flow indicators to suit particular applications. The Company motto was "From Drops to Rivers".

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