WaterSense Introduction

WaterSense, a partnership program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), seeks to protect the future of our nation’s water supply by offering people a simple way to use less water with water-efficient products, new homes, and services. To achieve the mission of the WaterSense program, EPA establishes partnerships with interested stakeholders, such as product manufacturers, retailers, and water utilities. EPA provides and maintains the WaterSense brand and develops national specifications for water-efficient products and programs.

EPA requires all products bearing the WaterSense label to be assessed for conformance to the relevant WaterSense product specification by an accredited, independent, third-party product certifying body. EPA will license accredited product certifying bodies to certify that products conform to applicable specifications and to authorize the use of the WaterSense label in conjunction with the certified product.

The international criteria for the accreditation of product certifying bodies operating product certification programs for tangible products, processes, and services are detailed in International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 17065, Conformity assessment—Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes, and services.

This WaterSense Product Certification System (product certification system) specifies the minimum requirements that EPA-licensed product certifying bodies (licensed certifying bodies) shall observe when operating third-party certifications of product conformance to WaterSense product specifications and authorizing the use of the WaterSense label. It provides specific requirements in the application of ISO/IEC 17065 in order to satisfy the requirements implicit in the certification of products for WaterSense and provides the basis for consistent application of this product certification system by licensed certifying bodies.

Scope

This product certification system applies to the certification of product conformance to the technical and labeling requirements of relevant WaterSense product specifications and includes all processes and services used to make a final product.

EPA develops WaterSense product specifications for various products or product categories. Specifications detail the attributes products are required to have in order to bear the WaterSense label. Current WaterSense product specifications are available in the compendium of WaterSense product and program specifications, found on the WaterSense website at www.epa.gov/WaterSense/partners/product_program_specs.html EPA may modify the compendium as necessary to incorporate any additional or revised WaterSense product specifications, as well as any technical clarifications issued for existing WaterSense product specifications.