Australian Water Management Review Vol. 1 2014 | Page 8

Australia leads
the way in
water efficiency
certification
and labelling
Julian Gray, CEO, Smart Approved WaterMark

A

s the driest inhabited continent Australia
has a long history of water conservation
and the regulation of water-using
products, dating back to the 1920s.
Historically state and regional water
authorities regulated water efficiency with a
primary focus on plumbing products.
Australian water efficiency labelling began in the
1980s by the then Melbourne Metropolitan Board
of Works, branding shower heads and dishwashers
with an A or AA rating. In 1999 the voluntary AAA’s
water efficiency labelling program had expanded
to have national reach and management of the
program was handed to Water Services Association
of Australia (WSAA). By 2001 the scheme had
expanded to cover shower-heads, toilets, taps,
clothes washers, dishwashers, urinal flushing
devices and flow regulators. At this time there were
five efficiency level ratings with test requirements
and label designs specified in the Australian and
New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 6400.
The 5A’s program was split into two in 2005
creating the mandatory Water Efficiency Labelling
and Standards (WELS) scheme and voluntary Smart
Approved WaterMark program. The WELS star
rating applies national mandatory water efficiency
labelling and minimum performance standards to
water-using products in household plumbing and
white goods. Smart WaterMark is a quality mark

2 | Australian water man age m e nt re v ie w

identifying technologies and practices that help get
the best value out of water and W6W2