Откройте воду и проверьте водопроводную трубу и показания счётчика.

Because these are imperative forms: they mean open/turn on! and check!

The ending -йте is used for:

• polite singular commands, when speaking to one person as вы
• plural commands, when speaking to more than one person

So:

• открой = open / turn on! (informal, to one person)

• откройте = open / turn on! (polite or plural)

• проверь = check! (informal, to one person)
• проверьте = check! (polite or plural)

Russian uses the same form for you (polite singular) and you (plural).

This is a normal Russian way to talk about turning on water.

In Russian, verbs related to opening and closing are often used for water flow:

• открыть воду = turn on the water
• закрыть воду = turn off the water

The idea is that you are opening access to the water, like opening a valve or tap.

A learner should know that Russian often uses a different everyday image than English. English says turn on the water, while Russian can say open the water.

Russian has no articles. There is no direct equivalent of English a/an or the.

So:

• воду can mean water, the water, or sometimes some water
• водопроводную трубу can mean a water pipe or the water pipe
• счётчика can mean of a meter or of the meter

The exact meaning depends on context, not on an article.

Because вода is the direct object of Откройте.

The dictionary form is:

• вода = water

But after a transitive verb like открыть, the direct object usually goes into the accusative case:

• вода → воду

So:

• Откройте воду = Turn on the water

This is a very common pattern in Russian.

For the same reason: it is also a direct object, this time after проверьте.

Dictionary forms:

• водопроводная = plumbing / water-supply
• труба = pipe

Together:

• водопроводная труба = water pipe

But after проверьте, the direct object must be in the accusative case:

• водопроводная труба → водопроводную трубу

Both the adjective and the noun change because they must agree in case, gender, and number.

Водопроводный means something like related to the water supply / plumbing / running water system.

So:

• водопроводная труба = water pipe / plumbing pipe / pipe of the water supply system

It comes from водопровод, which means water supply system or plumbing.

This is a good example of how Russian often forms adjectives from nouns:

• водопровод → водопроводный

This phrase means the meter readings or the reading(s) of the meter.

It has two parts:

• показания = readings, indications
• счётчика = of the meter

Here счётчика is in the genitive singular, because Russian often expresses X of Y using:

• noun + genitive

So:

• показания счётчика = readings of the meter

This is a very common structure in Russian.

The dictionary form is:

• счётчик = meter, counter

But after показания, Russian uses the genitive to show possession or association:

• счётчик → счётчика

So the phrase means:

• показания счётчика = the meter’s readings / the readings of the meter

This is similar to many other Russian combinations:

• дверь дома = the door of the house
• номер телефона = the number of the phone / phone number
• цвет машины = the color of the car

Because the sentence gives instructions to do complete, one-time actions.

• открыть = to open / turn on completely
• проверить = to check, to verify completely

In commands, the perfective often means:

• do this action
• bring it to completion
• achieve the result

That fits this kind of practical instruction very well.

If you used the imperfective forms instead:

• открывайте
• проверяйте

the meaning would shift toward something like:

• do it repeatedly
• be in the process of doing it
• do it as a general procedure

So the perfective is the natural choice here.

There are two different connections happening:

1. Откройте воду и проверьте ...

   • Here и joins two actions:
   • turn on the water
     • check ...

2. проверьте водопроводную трубу и показания счётчика

   • Here и joins two objects of проверьте:
   • the water pipe
     • the meter readings

So the structure is:

• [Command 1] Откройте воду
• и
• [Command 2] проверьте [object 1] и [object 2]

Yes. Then you would use the singular informal imperative:

• Открой воду и проверь водопроводную трубу и показания счётчика.

That form is used with ты.

So the difference is:

• откройте / проверьте = polite or plural
• открой / проверь = informal singular

Not completely. Russian word order is fairly flexible, but the original order sounds natural because it follows the likely sequence of actions:

1. turn on the water
2. check the pipe
3. check the meter reading

The sentence also puts the commands in a clear, practical order, which is common in instructions.

You could rearrange parts of the sentence, but that might change the emphasis or sound less neutral. The given version is straightforward and natural for an instruction.

Счётчик is a general word that can mean counter or meter, depending on context.

In this sentence, because we are talking about water and a water pipe, it most naturally means a water meter.

So:

• показания счётчика = the meter readings
• in this context, probably the water meter readings

Because the base word is счётчик, pronounced with yo:

• счётчик = SCHYOT-chik

The letter ё always represents that yo sound and is always stressed.

In many printed texts, Russians often write е instead of ё, so you may also see:

• счетчик

But it is still pronounced счётчик. For learners, writing ё is very helpful because it shows the correct pronunciation and stress.