Water
Yvo nne Org i l l / Water Ef f i c i enc y / BM A
It’s all about behaviour Contrary to popular belief, the European Water Label is not “just about water efficiency”... No, it's much more than that.
It's about informing and educating so that anyone who is in the market for water-using products can make an informed choice to suit their circumstances. It's also about giving them the opportunity to change their behaviour towards the most precious of all our resources. And it's about reducing waste.
Yvo n ne Or g i l l
Chief Executive of the Bathroom Manufacturers' Association
The award winning CEO of the Bathroom Manufacturers Association, Yvonne Orgill, reviews the labelling scheme, how it has developed, how it is transforming the industry and why our behaviour to water has to change.
What is the European Water Label?
Simply put, the European Water Label, through its easily recognisable graphics and searchable online database, quickly shows the water-using characteristics of bathroom and kitchen products so that would-be purchasers can choose those which ideally suit their circumstances. The Label carries information for12 product categories including the flush performance of toilets, the flow rate of taps and showers and the capacity of baths. It has grown rapidly into an awardwinning benchmark scheme which shows the water consumption of those products. A database, stored in the cloud at www. europeanwaterlabel.eu holds the details of almost 4000 products. The scheme is increasingly recognised by consumers and professionals
| 130 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
and from the UK government's point of view it is now an important tool in their drive to meet their ‘green'commitments. The scheme expanded into Europe during 2012, and during 2013 DEFRA and WRAP put their full weight behind it announcing that an agreement had been reached with bathroom retailers, merchants and manufacturers to join together to support and promote the Label. Supporters include Saint Gobain, Wolseley, Kingfisher, the Independent Merchant Association, Home Retail Group, and Travis Perkins. Over 1000 stockists have registered their details with the scheme. The key to Label is its overall design which is similar to the familiar labels found on white goods, other electrical goods, tyres, garden machinery, housing etc. It clearly shows the volume of water that the product will consume provided it is correctly installed according to the manufacturer's instructions. So, for instance, for taps and showers, those products which use more than 13 litres per minute will be shown in the red band. (This band ties in with the current harmonised British/European standards which ask for a max 12 litres per minute with a 10% tolerance to accommodate most flow regulators.) At the other end of the scale products using no more than 6 litres per minute will be shown in the green band. Consumers can see, at a glance, the performance of each product.