This is a civil metering product that combines "prepaid" with "intelligent control". Its core concept is "pay first, then use water", which completely changes the traditional model of "use water first, then pay".

Contact IC Cards (Insertion Type): The most common type, which requires physical insertion into a slot. Advantages include reliable connection and low cost; disadvantages are that the slot is prone to water vapor and dust contamination and there is physical wear and tear.

Contactless IC Cards (RFID Cards / Swipe Type): Utilizing radio frequency identification technology, the card only needs to be brought close to the reading area. Advantages include convenient operation, no wear and tear, and good water and dust resistance; the cost is relatively higher. This is currently the mainstream development direction.

• Completely solve the problem of fee collection: Transform from passive fee collection to active payment, significantly increasing the water fee recovery rate, especially effective in scenarios such as property management, rural water supply, and rental housing.
• Transparent user consumption: Users can check their balance and usage at any time, fostering water conservation awareness.
• Eliminate the need for manual meter reading: Save on the labor costs of meter readers.
• Easy to manage: Can set tiered water prices, with the system automatically calculating.
• Mature technology, simple deployment: Does not require complex network facilities (such as base stations, gateways), suitable for old residential areas and rural areas with poor or no network coverage.

The smart IC card prepaid water meter is a product of a specific historical stage. It has been widely used in the past two decades due to its advantages of simple deployment and direct solution to the core difficulty of charging. However, with the maturity of mobile Internet and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and the increasing demand for convenience from users, it is gradually transitioning from a dominant position in the market to a supplementary role in specific scenarios and is being integrated and replaced by the "IoT prepaid water meter" with more comprehensive functions and better user experience.