The Water Quality Association (WQA) is working with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help make point-of-use/point-of-entry (POU/POE) products a part of the agency’s WaterSense program.
WaterSense is a public-private partnership designed to protect the future of the nation’s water supply by promoting and enhancing the market for water-efficient products and programs. Among requirements for earning the WaterSense label, products must:
- Realize water savings on a national basis;
- Perform as well as or better than their less-efficient counterparts, assuming proper installation and operation;
- Achieve water efficiency through several technology options, at least one of which is nonproprietary;
- Effectively be differentiated by a visible label. Typically, the specification is set to label products that are at least 20 percent more efficient than their less-efficient counterparts;
- Be independently certified by a third party to confirm that the product meets EPA criteria for efficiency and performance;
- Provide measurable results, quantifiable in terms of water saved compared to less-efficient models, as well as level of desired performance achieved;
WQA will partner with the Agency to help establish water efficiency standards. With similar standards already in place, WQA hopes that those guidelines could be incorporated into the WaterSense program.
Source: WQA