Standards Australia has submitted a proposal for a new international Standard on water efficiency labelling with help from Singapore, Malaysia, China and New Zealand.

The proposed Standard aims to reduce domestic water wastage, support the government’s Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) scheme and allow countries to benefit from water efficient products.

The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources manages the WELS scheme as part of Australia’s commitment to improved water efficiency. WELS attempts to reduce the demand for high quality drinking water by educating consumers about water efficiency at the point of sale.

The new proposal will also follow Standards Australia’s development of the joint Australian and New Zealand Standard, AS/NZS 6400 Water efficient products – rating and labelling, through the technical committee, WS-032 Water Efficient Appliances. The Standard is responsible for a more water efficient Australia and allows consumers to identify what products are ‘best-of-breed’ when it comes to water usage.

“Australia’s WELS scheme has been very successful in reducing domestic water use in Australia. Consumers use the information on the WELS label to make informed purchasing decisions that save water and save money on utility bills,” says Department of Agriculture and Water Resources WELS regulator Paul Morris.

“By 2021 it is estimated that use of water efficient products will help to reduce domestic water use by nearly 150,000 megalitres each year – enough water to fill 60,000 Olympic swimming pools.

“In addition, Australians will save more than one billion dollars overall through reduced water and energy bills.

“An international standard will benefit Australian consumers and manufacturers by reducing manufacturing costs, and will help other countries implement water efficiency schemes that can save water and reduce the need for costly water infrastructure,”

Standards Australia chief executive Dr Bronwyn Evans has applauded the committee for positioning Australia as a leader for the initiative.

“An international standard would harmonise existing national systems and help facilitate a common market,” Bronwyn says.

“With Australia driving this important area of work, we are shaping the way the world works together to reduce our global impact.”

The standard will relate to the following range of products:

• Showers
• Tap equipment
• Flow controllers
• Lavatory equipment
• Urinal equipment
• Dishwashers
• Clothes washing machines
• The dryer function of combination washer/dryers, where they use water to dry a load