badger meterdynasonicsrecordallwater

Badger Meter — water-utility and clamp-on ultrasonic specialist

M-Series electromagnetic, Dynasonics clamp-on ultrasonic, Recordall mechanical and Cox precision turbine — the cost-effective stack for water, HVAC and light industrial.

TaglineNorth-American specialist focused on water utility, irrigation, HVAC and light industrial — owner of Dynasonics clamp-on ultrasonic, Recordall mechanical residential, and the M-Series electromagnetic range.
Websitewww.badgermeter.com/products/meters/
Technologies
electromagneticultrasonicmechanicalturbinevortex
Product lines
M-Series (Electromagnetic)Dynasonics TFX / DTTN / DXN (Ultrasonic clamp-on)Recordall (Mechanical disc / turbine, residential & commercial)Cox Precision (Turbine)Flo-tech (Hydraulic turbine)

When to choose Badger Meter

When the application is water utility, irrigation, HVAC chilled / hot water sub-metering, or light industrial — and CAPEX matters more than premium accuracy. Also the typical default for clamp-on ultrasonic retrofit on clean cold-water lines (Dynasonics TFX 5000).

Badger Meter at a glance

Badger Meter is a US-headquartered (Milwaukee, WI) flow specialist that has deliberately stayed out of the premium process-instrumentation race and instead dominates the water utility, HVAC, irrigation and light-industrial sub-metering segments — the volume tail of the flow market that the European majors largely ignore.

The company is the single largest manufacturer of residential and commercial water meters in North America and, after the 2020 acquisition of Dynasonics, is also one of the most-deployed clamp-on ultrasonic brands in North America and Australia.

Electromagnetic — M-Series

  • M-Series M1000 / M2000 / M5000 — process-duty industrial magmeters with PTFE, hard-rubber or polyurethane liners.
  • M-Series M5000 — the higher-spec line for water and wastewater industrial duty, ±0.25% of rate.
  • M-Series M-1500 / M-1000 — utility revenue magmeters, MID R49 / OIML R49 for water billing.

These are cost-effective and reliable, but they do not match the WaterMaster (ABB) or WATERFLUX (Krohne) on advanced features like 15-year battery operation or near-zero straight-run.

Ultrasonic — Dynasonics

This is where Badger competes seriously with the European majors:

  • Dynasonics TFX-5000 / TFX-Ultra — transit-time clamp-on for liquids. Field-installable, pipe wall temperatures −40 °C to +250 °C with high-temp transducers. Used heavily in chilled-water, hot-water heating, and process-water retrofit work.
  • Dynasonics DTTN / DTTS — inline transit-time for water / process liquids.
  • Dynasonics DXN — hybrid Doppler / transit-time — picks the right algorithm based on aeration / particulates. Useful in wastewater and dirty liquids.

The TFX-Ultra is the typical InstruSelect recommendation when the requirement is "retrofit clamp-on on a clean cold-water line without breaking pipe" — it's CAPEX-competitive with Siemens FUH1010, with shorter delivery times in North America.

Mechanical and turbine — Recordall, Cox

  • Recordall — disc and compound mechanical water meters; the dominant residential and small-commercial water meter in North America.
  • Cox Precision — high-accuracy turbine meters for aerospace, motorsport fuel measurement, and clean liquid lab duty. Pulse outputs to 10,000 pulses per litre with very tight linearity.

When InstruSelect promotes Badger

The selector ranks Badger Meter strongly when:

  • The duty is water-utility revenue metering below ~DN300 and budget matters.
  • The duty is HVAC chilled-water or hot-water sub-metering — TFX-5000 clamp-on is hard to beat on CAPEX.
  • The duty is clamp-on retrofit on clean cold-water lines — Dynasonics out-prices Siemens / E+H clamp-on while delivering comparable accuracy on the easier duty class.
  • The buyer is in North America — Badger's domestic stocking and service network gives faster lead times than European competitors.

For premium custody-grade, high-pressure or hot / cryogenic duty Badger is rarely the right choice; for general industrial process duty the European majors typically win on diagnostics, fieldbus integration and SIL coverage.

Datasheet sources

Curated from Badger Meter product literature and Dynasonics installation manuals. Verify the live datasheet for any procurement decision.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Dynasonics the same company as Badger Meter?

Dynasonics was acquired by Badger Meter in 2020 and is now operated as a product brand within Badger. Sales, support and warranty flow through Badger Meter channels.

Is a Dynasonics TFX-5000 accurate enough for industrial process duty?

For non-custody industrial duty on full pipes with clean liquids (chilled water, hot-water heating, treated process water), TFX-5000 quotes ±1% of rate which is comparable to the Siemens FUS1010. For custody transfer, dirty liquids with significant aeration, or steam, an inline meter (or the Dynasonics DXN hybrid for dirty liquids) is the right call.

Does Badger support MID R49 custody for water billing?

Yes — the M-Series M-1500 / M-1000 utility magmeters and selected Recordall mechanical sizes carry MID R49 / OIML R49 approvals for revenue water billing in the European and UK markets.

Can a Cox Precision turbine be used for hydrocarbon custody transfer?

Cox Precision turbines are widely used for aerospace fuel-flow test stands and motorsport refuelling allocation, both of which approach custody-grade uncertainty levels. For commercial-pipeline custody hydrocarbon transfer (OIML R117 territory) the typical InstruSelect recommendation is still Coriolis (Micro Motion Elite, Promass X) or 8-12 path ultrasonic (Daniel, ALTOSONIC).

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