Water rating labels help you choose water efficient products, conserving Australia’s water supply while reducing your bills. The objectives of the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) Scheme are to encourage the development and marketing of water efficient products and enable consumers to clearly identify and purchase these.
The joint Australian New Zealand standard AS/NZS 6400 Water efficient products rating and labelling forms a basis for the rating and labelling of a range of products under the mandatory WELS Scheme. All products specified under the WELS Act 2005 must be registered, rated and labelled according to the requirements of this Standard. The specified products are washing machines, dishwashers, lavatory equipment, showers, tap equipment and urinal equipment. The CFA has a representative on the Standards Australia Technical Committee WS-032 Water efficient appliances which is currently revising the standard.
When WELS began in 2005, projections were made on the reduction in the demand for water and energy to the year 2021. Since then, a study completed in 2008 showed even greater savings than the 2005 projections. By 2021, Australians could save more than one billion dollars through reduced water and energy bills by simply choosing more efficient products. Over one third of the water savings will come from more efficient showers, about 34 per cent from washing machines and 23 per cent from toilets and urinals.
The CFA provides volunteer representatives on Standards Australia Technical Committees as part of the CFA Standards Project; if you are interested in finding out more about the Project or becoming a volunteer CFA Standards Representative please contact the Standards Coordinator standards@consumeraction.org.