WaterSense labeled products

1. Review WaterSense Product Specifications: Visit the EPA WaterSense website to identify whether your product category (e.g., toilets, faucets, showerheads, irrigation controllers) has an active WaterSense specification. Confirm your product is eligible — some categories like kitchen faucets and dishwashers are not eligible.

1. Understand the Specifications: Download and study the applicable WaterSense product specification, which defines both the water efficiency threshold (typically 20% below the federal standard) and the performance criteria your product must meet.

1. Select an EPA-Recognized Certification Body: Choose an accredited, EPA-recognized third-party certification body (CB) to conduct testing. A list of recognized CBs is available on the WaterSense website. The CB will manage the testing and certification process.

1. Submit Product for Laboratory Testing: Send your product to the certification body for laboratory testing. The CB will test the product against WaterSense specifications for both water efficiency and performance equivalence.

1. Review Test Results: The certification body reviews the test data. If the product meets all criteria, the CB issues a certification determination and notifies EPA.

1. EPA Review and Approval: EPA reviews the certification documentation and, upon approval, adds the product to the official WaterSense product database, authorizing use of the WaterSense label.

1. Apply the Label and Market Your Product: Once approved, affix the WaterSense label to qualifying products and packaging. Use EPA's marketing toolkit to promote your product's certification to retailers, utilities, and consumers.

1. Maintain Ongoing Compliance: Monitor EPA communications for specification updates or market surveillance activities. Retest if required and ensure continued compliance to retain label eligibility.

WaterSense evaluates products across two core dimensions: water efficiency and performance equivalence. Both criteria must be met simultaneously — a product cannot sacrifice performance to achieve water savings.

Water Efficiency: Products must use at least 20% less water than the applicable federal standard or industry baseline. The specific threshold varies by product category. For example, WaterSense-labeled toilets must use no more than 1.28 gallons per flush (compared to the 1.6 gpf federal standard), while WaterSense showerheads must flow at no more than 2.0 gallons per minute (vs. the 2.5 gpm federal standard). Irrigation controllers are evaluated on their ability to apply water only when and where needed, reducing outdoor water waste.

Performance Equivalence: Products must perform as well as or better than conventional, less efficient alternatives. Performance criteria are product-specific and developed through stakeholder input and public comment. For toilets, this includes flush performance testing (MaP testing) to ensure waste removal is effective. For faucets and showerheads, flow rate consistency, spray coverage, and user experience are assessed. Irrigation controllers are evaluated on weather-responsiveness and scheduling accuracy.

Third-Party Verification: All testing is conducted by EPA-recognized, accredited certification bodies using standardized laboratory protocols. Manufacturers cannot self-certify. The certification body reviews test data against the published specification and makes a certification determination before submitting to EPA for final approval and listing in the product database.

Market Surveillance: After certification, EPA conducts periodic market surveillance, which may include purchasing products off retail shelves and retesting them to verify continued compliance. Products found out of compliance may have their label eligibility revoked.

WaterSense is the dominant water-efficiency product label in the United States, with no direct federal competitor. Since its launch in 2006, the program has grown to encompass over 34,000 labeled products across categories including toilets, faucets, showerheads, urinals, and irrigation controllers. Its government backing by the EPA gives it a level of credibility and consumer recognition that private or industry-led labels struggle to match. The program is widely embedded in the U.S. market through utility rebate programs — thousands of water utilities and municipalities offer financial incentives specifically for WaterSense-labeled products, creating a powerful market pull for manufacturers to seek certification.

The program's relevance has grown alongside increasing water scarcity concerns across the American West and Southeast. Drought conditions, aging water infrastructure, and rising water rates have elevated consumer and municipal interest in water efficiency, making the WaterSense label an increasingly valuable marketing asset. Many state and local building codes now reference or require WaterSense-labeled fixtures in new construction, further embedding the label into the construction and real estate supply chain. LEED and other green building rating systems also award credits for specifying WaterSense products, broadening its reach into the commercial and institutional sectors.

Internationally, WaterSense has limited direct recognition, though it is sometimes referenced by Canadian and Australian water efficiency programs. Comparable programs include Australia's WELS (Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards) scheme and the EU's water efficiency labeling initiatives, but these operate independently. For manufacturers targeting the U.S. market, WaterSense certification is effectively a market prerequisite in the water-efficiency segment, and its absence from a product line can be a competitive disadvantage when competing for utility rebate program inclusion or green building project specifications.

WaterSense was launched by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2006, modeled after the success of the EPA's ENERGY STAR program, which had demonstrated that a voluntary, government-backed efficiency label could drive significant market transformation. The program was created in response to growing concerns about freshwater scarcity, aging water infrastructure, and the energy costs associated with treating and distributing water. Its initial focus was on residential toilets and faucets — two of the largest contributors to indoor water use — and it quickly expanded to showerheads, urinals, and irrigation controllers.

Over the years, WaterSense has undergone several specification updates to reflect advances in technology and tightening efficiency standards. The program introduced its irrigation controller specification in 2012, addressing outdoor water use, which accounts for roughly 30% of household water consumption. Some early product specifications, such as pre-rinse spray valves, have been sunset as their efficiency criteria were absorbed into national plumbing standards — a deliberate strategy by EPA to institutionalize WaterSense's standards into the broader regulatory framework. By 2021, the program reported cumulative water savings of over 5.3 trillion gallons and consumer cost savings exceeding $108 billion, cementing its status as one of the most impactful voluntary environmental programs in U.S. history.