Plumbing Products

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THE PRODUCT:

Plumbing products include showerheads, lavatory and kitchen faucets, faucet aerators, metering faucets, toilets, and urinals

THE STANDARD:

In the 1980s and early 90s, multiple states adopted standards setting maximum water use levels for showerheads, faucets, toilets, and urinals. Based on these standards, Cognress adopted national standards on these products in the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The following standards took effect in 1994:

Under the law, if the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) revises these standards, DOE is obligated to review ASME's action and consider revising the federal standards. If ASME does not revise the standards within five years, states are free to set more stringent standards themselves. To date, ASME has not revised any of these standards. On December 22, 2010, DOE officially waived preemption for plumbing products, allowing states to set standards provided that they are more stringent than the 1994 federal standards.

In September 2007, California enacted legislation setting new and more stringent state standards for toilets and urinals that take full effect in 2014. Georgia, Texas, and New York City have also set more stringent standards for plumbing products. Georgia's standards, which go into effect in July 2012, are 1.28 gpf for toilets; 0.5 gpf for urinals; 1.5 gpm for lavatory faucets; and 2.0 gpm for kitchen faucets. New York City standards include showerheads at 2.0 gpm. In 2006, EPA launched WaterSense, similar to ENERGY STAR but focused on helping consumers identify water-efficient products. The WaterSense specifications for showerheads, lavatory faucets, toilets, and urinals are the same as the state standards note above.

KEY FACTS:

According to EPA's WaterSense, a family of four uses about 400 gallons of water every day.