A mandatory Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme for Australia
Final report
George Wilkenfeld and Associates Pty. Ltd.
Department of the Environment and Heritage, June 2003
Download the final report
Executive summary
There is considerable technical potential to increase the efficiency of household water use in Australia. There is a wide range in the water-efficiency of different products, and the price of mains water should make it cost-effective for buyers to take water-efficiency into account.
However, cost-effective options to increase water-efficiency may be passed up because of low awareness of water issues and water prices, poor access to water efficiency information during product search and selection and because products are often chosen by intermediaries such as builders or plumbers, rather than by the party who will bear the ultimate running costs.
One of the means of overcoming lack of information is through water efficiency labelling, the aim of which is to ensure that buyers are presented with information on water efficiency and/or water use at the time and in the form that is most likely to influence their purchase decision.
On 23 May 2003, the Environment and Heritage Ministers of the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments and of New Zealand agreed to develop an implementation plan for a national mandatory water efficiency labelling scheme covering showerheads, washing machines, dishwashers and toilets. Once this is implemented it will be unlawful to offer any of these products for sale unless they carry the water efficiency information prescribed in regulations, and in the format prescribed in regulations.
A voluntary water efficiency labelling scheme has been in existence since 1988. It is now managed by the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA). The scheme originally covered only shower heads and dishwashers, and offered two efficiency grades (A and AA). A third rating (AAA) was introduced in 1992, and two higher ratings (AAAA and AAAAA) in 2001.
The WSAA program covers shower heads, toilets, taps, clothes washers, dishwashers, urinal flushing devices and flow regulators. The test requirements for each product type, the water efficiency levels required for each rating and the label design are all specified in Australian and New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 6400, Water efficient products - Rating and labeling published in February 2003.
The coverage of the existing program is limited. Because the scheme is voluntary, few suppliers have chosen to label, and those that have tend to label only their better performing products - for obvious reasons. The main incentive for labelling has been the support of the water utilities (the members of WSAA), many of whom have publicised the scheme, or offered cash rebates to their customers for the purchase of labelled appliances. Consequently, despite being a comparative labelling program it has developed some of the attributes of an endorsement label, which assists water utilities and their customers to identify models for rebate purposes, rather than as a purely comparative label, which encourages and enables buyers to compare the water efficiency of different models.
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