The water label debate: mandatory versus voluntary

The proposal to introduce mandatory water efficiency labels for household goods has accelerated in recent months, with the Public Accounts Committee recommending to the policy to Defra as a way to cut consumption. However, the Bathroom Manufacturers Association has a long-established voluntary label that is gaining global recognition. Its chief executive spoke to Utility Week about the benefits of the scheme and why he believes the industry needs to work with the water sector towards achieving common goals.

“Bathroom manufacturers and water companies need water efficiency to come up on politicians’ radars in the zero-carbon debate,” says BMA chief executive Tom Reynolds. “Six per cent of the UK’s carbon emissions can be attributed to the supply of water to domestic properties. If we cut domestic water consumption by 10 per cent, it’s the same as taking one million petrol cars off the roads.

“The government is talking about energy efficiency now and retrofitting, but water efficiency doesn’t figure so there is a massive opportunity for water companies and manufacturers to collaborate and really get the message over.”

At Waterwise’s annual conference last week, Reynolds spoke of the “unhelpful tensions” between manufacturers of fixtures and fittings and the wider water sector. Expanding on his comments in a subsequent interview with Utility Week, he says the common endeavour of both sides is often missed because a “culture of opposition has built up over the years”.

Reynolds says this dynamic stems from the regulations that govern water supply fittings, which were developed in 1999 and considered controversial at the time but are now somewhat outdated. He says the regulations are open to interpretation, creating differences in approach.

“There’s also a misperception on both sides,” he adds. “Manufacturers sometimes feel like a scapegoat on leakage. The PAC report gave the water companies a hard time on leakage and there is a feeling that some of the blame is being shifted onto manufacturers as an easy target.

“Water companies may have the misconception that manufacturers don’t give a damn as long as they can sell their products but we have no interest in selling leaky products or water inefficient products. We want to contribute to a better built environment and that includes in bathrooms. We have a social, moral obligation.”

Towards this end, the BMA have created the Unified Water Label – a voluntary labelling scheme that has been widely adopted across Europe, Turkey and Hong Kong.

Information on the label is intended to allow consumers to make an informed decision at the point of purchase. The products and manufacturers are audited annually and an online database means anyone can check the credentials of products online.

Reynolds says more and more manufacturers are coming onto the label all the time, but the scheme has faced criticism that higher consumption products simply do not feature the label, limiting its impact.

A mandatory label has been suggested as a more effective way to reduce consumption, but Reynolds is wary about such a move.

“We need to be careful what we mean by mandatory because it if it is very prescriptive and set out in regulation what a given scheme should look like, for one, it would kill the Unified Water Label. A scheme that is extremely rigid would be extraordinarily difficult to make any amendments to once it is on the statutory book.”

He says a voluntary scheme such as theirs can be easily adapted to meet the needs of consumers and reflect external changes as they occur. There would be issues if a mandatory scheme banned certain products from coming onto the market: “Prohibition is very dangerous within the water industry because people will find workarounds, you could easily have a shower installed and just take out the flow regulators to completely change the efficiency performance of the product.”

Reynolds says there is a public misconception that “low flow rate equals a rubbish product”.

“If someone wanted to have a high consuming product for reasons of luxury, they could take out the flow rate regulators. That would make it even worse than having a product that was red labelled on the efficiency scale.”

He says another concern with a mandatory scheme is policing: “At the moment there are products supplied by unscrupulous companies that don’t meet the existing scheme. We police and audit our scheme but if any new scheme is adopted, who will monitor it? People can still supply products in the UK marketplace that don’t comply with fittings regulations, so why do we think they would adhere to another scheme?”

He would much rather water companies back their voluntary labelling: “It already exists, it’s not reinventing the wheel and it’s got good methodology behind it.”

Reynolds continues: “Our members are constantly innovating and bringing more water efficient products onto the marketplace, which includes not just using less water but also things that harness behavioural ergonomics to encourage people to use less water.”

These include showers with mood lighting that changes to tell people their five minutes are up and a model that displays a polar bear on an iceberg, which melts as the shower goes on.

“There’s no panacea to getting more water efficient as a society,” he remarks. “We have to do everything and what’s more we have to do it together. If we are in conflict with one another we won’t achieve what we need to.”

Altering behaviour and attitudes to water usage will require addressing the misconception that a more efficient product equals a poorer experience – something that many are not willing to forgo: “We need to get the message across that you can have a good experience and still use less water – so it’s education.

“Another challenge is that we don’t have a licenced plumbing system in the UK and while there are many very skilled installers, unfortunately there are many out there who are not as skilled as they need to be.”

He says problems with fittings and fixtures can be due to poor installation and there is a need for the installer base to be upskilled.

Attention is often focused on the products themselves, but Reynolds says better maintenance could also bring about big improvements: “These are effectively mechanical devices, but we happily install a toilet or a tap and expect it to last forever without any TLC. We need to build up a servicing attitude to bathroom fittings so they have a longevity of performance and they can continue to match what they have been tested and developed in a lab to do.”