Research has shown that consumer attitudes have changed over the last 12 months. The Covid pandemic has had a huge impact, not only on how much time people now spend at home but also in terms of their views on environmental responsibility and climate change. There is a growing interest in products that can help save water and energy, helping keep household bills down and contribute to a more sustainable lifestyle.
A recent survey by The Bathroom Manufacturers Association revealed that consumers would like to make better purchasing decisions but lack the knowledge to do so. The survey found that half of those surveyed would like to improve their household water efficiency (55%), and state it influences their purchasing decision (51%). The survey also reported that four in ten adults are not sure how to improve the water efficiency in their home (41%) and three in ten (28%) don’t know how much water they use daily.
These results clearly illustrate that retailers could benefit by providing this information to the consumer.
That’s why we are launching the #WaterMatters campaign, calling for retailers to communicate the importance of water efficiency to consumers.
The good news is there is a huge selection of innovative products that are designed to use water wisely, without compromising on quality. Retailers do not have to compromise on design or performance when selecting environmentally friendly products to promote to their customers. Many of Europe’s most well-known and well respected brands offer bathroom products that carry the UWL, Unified Water Label, providing taps, showers and toilets that use water wisely and offer great choice to the consumer. You can find them here.
Table of Contents
What is the Unified Water Label?
The Unified Water Label is a European wide initiative by companies involved in the bathroom industry. It’s a smart tool that provides a means to identify water using products with a common label that offers clear, concise and easy to understand messaging about water energy usage.
Here you can download a guide that explains how the Unified Water Label should be displayed when being used on all printed and electronic media and any other applications.
Why does it matter?
Consumers need to be aware of efficient bathroom products that work with their water and heating systems, that they are fit for purpose and deliver no less performance but use less water and energy
What products are covered?
The UWL includes 14 different categories for water using bathroom products that cover:
- Shower heads
- Shower control
- Taps
- WC suits
- Baths
Who supports it?
Hundreds of registered brands support the label, promoting it on their websites, in their newsletters, magazines and adverts. Consumers are seeking sustainability and environmental information and are now looking for the label, making it a strong marketing tool. In addition, over 10000 architects and specifiers use the database of products on a regular basis for new projects across the globe
Why should retailers support it?
Retailers can play an important role in educating consumers and bringing these products to their attention.
What should you do?
- Train your staff to understand and communicate water efficiency. We are offering online courses on water efficiency. Please visit our events page to find upcoming courses
- Display the water label on the products you are selling
- Speak with your suppliers to ensure the products are registered on the label scheme: it will help to increase awareness and necessity but also stop rogue traders from using the label when they shouldn’t. Suppliers can register here.
Get ahead of your competition and support our campaign! Show your support by posting this card on social media with the hashtag #WaterMatters. Don’t forget to tag our social media pages: Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
More info: https://uwla.eu/
How do you know if a product is water efficient and doesn’t have a Water Label?
The water calculator
The water calculator is designed for anyone involved in the development of new homes, e.g. developers, Housing Associations and others. It is designed make it quicker and easier to comply with the water aspect of Building Regulations and/or sustainability certification. The Water Calculator contains information on water consumption for hundreds of products, enabling quick and easy specification. For products not on the list you can also enter data manually. See here for more information: http://www.thewatercalculator.org.uk/default.asp
Water consumption can be also estimated using this SEAI’ DEAP Water efficiency Calculation tool .
BREEAM, Home Performance Index, LEED and EU Taxonomy
The main Environmental Assessment Methods for New Construction in Ireland, BREAAM, Home Performance Index and LEED all have minimum mandatory requirements with regard potable water use. The EU taxonomy is a classification system, establishing a list of environmentally sustainable economic activities.
They all use different methods for measuring and calculating water efficiency which are summarised in the table below. Further reference should be made to the technical manuals in the links below
| BREEAM (Maximum flow/flush rates) | Home Performance Index (HPI) – Maximum water use aggregate 125l/person/day | LEED (Maximum flow/flush rates + 20% reduction on aggregate consumption) | EU Taxonomy (Maximum flow/flush rates) | |
| WC
(litres / flush) |
12 |
6/4 * |
6 |
6 |
| Wash hand basin taps (litres / min) |
12 |
6 * |
1.9 public |
6 |
| Showers
(litres / min) |
14 |
9 * |
9.5 |
8 |
| Baths
(litres) |
200 |
170 * |
Not available |
Not available |
| Kitchen Taps
(litres / min) |
12 |
9 * |
8.3 |
6 |
*The figures for Home Performance Index are indicative as the calculation does not set maximum flush/flow but focuses on the overall consumption figure.
Links:
- https://www.breeam.com/BREEAMInt2016SchemeDocument/#08_water/wat01_nc.htm
- homeperformanceindex.ie
- https://www.usgbc.org/credits/new-construction-core-and-shell-data-centers-new-construction-warehouse-and-distribution-0?view=language&return=/credits/New%20Construction/v4.1/Water%20efficiency
- https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:d84ec73c-c773-11eb-a925-01aa75ed71a1.0021.02/DOC_2&format=PDF
Download a printable version of this information here.
We are interested to hear from you! How do you currently communicate water efficiency? Do you get customer queries about this issue? Do you think the industry could do more in this regard? Let us know what you think! Get in touch!
Chadwick and Sonas Bathroom have already joined our campaign.
Supported by |
 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 framework programme for research and innovation under grant agreement No 892894. |
| In collaboration with
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