The focal point of Badger Meter's innovation center is the hydro lab. Stainless steel tanks, which range in size from 12 to 12,000 gallons, measure water for tests as low as 1/16 of a gallon of water per minute up to 12,000 gallons of water per minute.

The lab includes pumping systems, pressure tanks and a weir tower, enabling engineers to effectively duplicate the water sources found in residential, commercial and industrial applications. Numerous tests are conducted in the hydro lab to verify the precision of products in the design stage and to audit manufactured products throughout the product life. The highly automated labs use programmable controllers to manage the tests and personal computers for data collection.