The product
Maji Community Dispenser
A solar-powered water point with prepaid NFC WaterCard payments built in. Available as a self-contained Standalone unit or a Flush kiosk installation, commissioned without a grid connection and serviceable by a local technician.
From £575 per unit · typical lead time 6–8 weeks
- 99.2%
- Payment collection rate
- 99.6%
- Uptime across the fleet
- 14 months
- Median payback period
- 0
- Grid connections required
Prepaid tokens remove credit risk and cash handling entirely
Rolling 12-month average, measured by hourly device heartbeat
From commissioning to full capital recovery for operators
Solar and battery powered, with offline-first operation
Two configurations
Standalone or Flush — same electronics, different install
Standalone
- Integrated plumbing in a single enclosure
- Mounts directly onto a concrete standpipe
- Retrofits existing water points with no extra civils
- Easy, one-unit installation
Flush
- Seamless, waterproof polycarbonate faceplate
- Separate plumbing module, installed with rear access
- Built for kiosk and wall-mounted installations
- Also known as the Split System
NFC cards
Two cards, two jobs
WaterCard
Given to customers. Top up credit onto it, then insert it into the dispenser to buy water — the balance is deducted for exactly what is drawn.
Engineer Card
For technicians, not customers. Checks and changes dispenser settings, and reads live status — battery and solar voltage, price per litre, and more.
Features
What is inside the enclosure
Prepaid NFC WaterCards
MIFARE DESFire technology, AES encrypted and impossible to clone. Compatible cards can be self-sourced, and the free Android app handles reseller top-ups even offline.
Solar powered, off-grid
A built-in 14 Ah lithium-ion battery, charged by a 50 W+ solar panel through a regulated controller. A 12 V DC mains input is supported, never required.
Offline-first collection
Water collection works with no connectivity at all — balances live on the WaterCard, and transactions back up to an SD card until the modem reconnects.
Cloud data, EU hosted
Pressure, flow, power and location telemetry reported to the cloud, hosted in Germany and handled under UK and EU GDPR.
Built to service in the field
The valve and flow meter are the two parts scheduled for routine replacement — every two years or 100,000 cycles — and both are available individually from the webstore.
Auto-closing valve
The ¾" BSP valve closes automatically on power loss, and is rated for 80,000–100,000 cycles by its manufacturer.
Gallery
The Community Dispenser in detail
Technical specification
Community Dispenser at a glance
Valve & plumbing
- Valve
- ¾" BSP, auto-closing in the event of power loss
- Valve rating
- 80,000–100,000 cycles (manufacturer rated)
- Water inlet/outlet
- ¾" PVC
- Materials
- Lead-free, WRAS-approved PVC, brass and stainless steel
- Filtration
- Cleanable gauze filter
- Pressure
- 0–50 PSI
Flow meter
- Pressure rating
- Up to 1.75 MPa (17.5 bar)
- Flow range
- 1–25 litres per minute
Payment — NFC WaterCards
- Technology
- MIFARE DESFire NFC, card data AES encrypted
- Card compatibility
- DESFire EV1, EV2 and EV3, 4k — compatible cards can be self-sourced
- Card durability
- Genuine NXP cards rated up to 1 million write cycles; 25-year data retention (EV3)
- Cloning resistance
- Cards cannot be cloned
- Offline collection
- Water collection is fully functional with no connectivity
Connectivity
- Modem
- Any SIM card, any network — 2G, 3G and 4G
- Coverage
- Functional across Europe, SE Asia, West Asia, Africa, China and Korea
- Ancillary devices
- RS485 communication bus
- Location
- GPS
- Firmware
- Over-the-air updates
Power
- Battery
- Built-in 12 V Lithium-Ion, 14 Ah — any 12 V battery is also supported
- Solar
- 50 W+ panel, with a built-in 12.6 V regulated solar charge controller
- Mains
- 12 V DC
Case
- Rating
- IP66 waterproof and dust rating
Data, app & dashboard
- Data collection
- All transactions and events reported to the cloud, with SD card backup
- Telemetry
- Pressure, flow rate, power, solar, battery, modem, GPS and GSM maintenance data
- App
- Free Android 7.0+ WaterCard sales and management app, with offline top-up
- Dashboard
- Web-based, with long-term trend graphs, data exports and tank height display
- API
- Cloud API for custom dashboards and payment integrations
Design life
- Enclosure & electronics
- 10+ years expected lifespan
- Battery
- Replacement every 3–5 years, depending on local solar conditions
- Flow meter & valve
- Replacement every two years or 100,000 cycles, whichever comes first
Pricing
What it costs to get started
Maji Community Dispenser — Standalone
The complete water point in one enclosure, prepaid metering built in.
£575
per unit, ex. VAT and shipping
Maji Community Dispenser — Flush
A seamless faceplate with the plumbing module mounted separately behind it.
£575
per unit, ex. VAT and shipping
Maji Data & Support Subscription
Cloud hosting, the operator dashboard and API access, kept current.
Price on request
per device, per month
Prices exclude VAT, shipping and installation. Ask for a bulk quote for larger orders.
Questions
Frequently asked
What is the difference between Standalone and Flush?
Both run the same electronics and payment system. Standalone is a single, self-contained unit with integrated plumbing, built to mount directly onto a concrete standpipe or retrofit an existing water point. Flush — also called the Split System — separates the two: a waterproof polycarbonate faceplate sits at the point of use, with the plumbing module installed behind it with rear access, which suits kiosk installations where a flush, tamper-resistant front matters.
Does the dispenser need a grid connection?
No. It runs on a built-in 12 V, 14 Ah lithium-ion battery, charged by a 50 W+ solar panel through a built-in regulated charge controller. A 12 V DC mains input is supported for sites that have one, but it is never required.
What happens when there is no mobile network?
Water collection is fully functional offline — balances live on the NFC WaterCard, so customers can draw water with no connectivity at all. All transactions and events are also written to an SD card for backup, and sync to the cloud once the modem reconnects.
Can it be retrofitted to a water point we already operate?
Yes. The Standalone configuration is designed for exactly this: it mounts onto existing concrete standpipes with no additional civil works.
How do customers pay for water?
Customers hold a prepaid NFC WaterCard, topped up for cash through a local reseller using the free Android app, or directly through the dispenser or an operator’s own systems. Mobile money top-up is available as a bespoke, chargeable integration, quoted case by case.
Can WaterCards be cloned or tampered with?
No. Cards use MIFARE DESFire technology with AES-encrypted data, and cannot be cloned. Genuine NXP cards are rated for up to a million write cycles and, on EV3, 25 years of data retention.
Who maintains the dispensers, and what wears out?
The parts scheduled for routine replacement are the battery (every 3–5 years, depending on local solar conditions) and the flow meter and valve (every two years or 100,000 cycles, whichever comes first) — all available individually on the webstore. The enclosure and core electronics have an expected design life of 10+ years.
Where is data hosted?
All data is hosted and retained in the EU (Germany), and handled in compliance with UK and EU GDPR.
Something not covered here? Ask us directly
Next step
Model the numbers for your own sites
Send us your site list, tariff and expected throughput. We will come back with a recommended configuration — no obligation.