many years ago my meter broke it at most was recoding on 1/4 of the water used, must of been a broken gear, the meter became noisey.
so i locked out my caller ID and called the water company requesting a outside reading water meter. they said 2 years to get it installed.
so i said i wouldnt tell them who i was, unless they installed to outside reading meter since they had to come in any case to install a new meter....
the gal got her bosses approval, but said you know this is black mail........
i said yeah i know, but it worked.
my elderly grandma could barely walk and didnt like peolple coming in the house.
so this worked for me.
back on topic, lets assume the water source quit, but lots of air pressure somehow got pushed thru the line.
the air motion might get recorded as water used?