State changes the way it tests gas pumps

Imagine having to spend your day lugging around full five-gallon gas cans that weigh 50 pounds each. That -was- the life of a state gasoline pump tester, until this week. The state is changing how tests are done on gas pumps, allowing large racks of cans to be used for several pumps at once.Darryl Brown is director of the Weights and Measures Bureau of the Iowa Department of Agriculture. The new system allows inspectors to use a 45-gallon test cart that enables nine pumps to be checked at once. Brown says it’s a big deal, considering the number of pumps inspectors check every year. The eight inspectors do annual inspections at 45-hundred gas stations statewide, checking the accuracy of 34-thousand pumps.The inspectors also do other tasks like checking the scales in delis and grocery stores.