️ 🏛️ Tianjin Water Instrument Works was one of China’s early state‑era water‑meter factories, active from the 1950s–1980s, producing simple brass single‑jet meters for Tianjin’s municipal water board and surrounding rural cooperatives. Surviving meters stamped TIANJIN – 水表厂 confirm authentic production inChina’s early state‑era metering heritage before national industrial consolidation.

⚙️ Identity

Official Name: Tianjin Water Instrument Works

Chinese: 天津水表仪器厂

Location: Tianjin Municipality, North China

Active Period: 1950s–1980s

Industry: Mechanical water‑meter manufacturing

Specialty: Brass single‑jet meters for municipal water boards and rural cooperatives

Status: Defunct; absorbed into Tianjin’s post‑1980s precision‑instrument consolidation

🧭 Historical Overview

1950s: Established during early PRC industrialisation; produced basic brass domestic meters.

1960s–1970s: Peak output; supplied Tianjin municipal water networks and Hebei rural cooperatives.

1980s: Decline as China adopted national metering standards and imported Japanese designs.

Post‑1980s: Workshop absorbed into larger Tianjin instrument factories.

🏭 Meter Production

Evidence includes:

Surviving brass meters stamped TIANJIN – 水表厂

Tianjin Water Bureau procurement ledgers listing 天津水表仪器厂

1960s–1980s industrial directories listing 水表厂 (water‑meter factory)

Collectors’ documentation of Tianjin‑stamped plates

Product Types

Single‑jet brass meters

DN15–DN20 domestic meters

Rural cold‑water meters

🔄 Reborn

Tianjin Lianchang Water Meter Technology Co., Ltd The company originated from Tianjin Automation Instrument Factory No. 3, established in the early 1940s, and was the first enterprise in China to produce and manufacture water meters. It is currently affiliated with the company Tianjin Instrument Group Co., Ltd, restructured into a joint-stock enterprise in September 2000. The cold water meter products produced by it passed national supervision and spot checks in 2004 and 2018. In March 2017, the company's legal representative changed from Bai Chunling to Zhang Guoqiang. The company was involved in judicial cases and added a bankruptcy document announcement to the court on December 29, 2020, after which its operating status was changed to deregistration.