The scheme works very similarly to the energy label seen on white goods and even has an online database where products from different manufacturers can be compared.
"We must strive to save water. But let us think about creating sensible incentives, rather than imposing bans and constraints. Voluntary water efficiency labels can be a first and important step in this direction!" says Richard Seeber, Founder and President of the EP Water Group.
The label has brought to light the benefits of new innovations such as water saving baths, water saving toilets, dual flush mechanisms and low-flow taps.
Dual flush for example allows the user to choose a lower volume flush when needed instead of the standardised flush volume seen on lever toilets. By choosing the lower volume button for liquid waste the amount of water released from the cistern is roughly halved. This eliminates the need to use a full flush when it’s not needed which can save approximately three litres per flush on newer toilets.
There are other ways to save water such as showering instead of taking a bath. A bath uses an average of 80 litres of water while a shower uses just only 30. Other ways include turning off the tap while brushing your teeth or shaving. If a person were to leave the water running for 3 minutes twice per day everyday for a year they would potentially waste 10,950 litres per year.
Other ideas from watercalculator.org include putting a bucket in the shower to collect the water while you’re waiting for to heat up. This water can then be used for watering the plants, cleaning, soaking dishes etc. If you find time runs away from you in the shower try keeping an eye on it by playing music in the background and measuring how much time your spending in there by the amount of songs that play. Their site suggests challenging yourself to get your shower time down to one song. Hippo and save-a-flush systems can also be used on older toilets installed before 2001. These two systems give options to effectively bag away part of the water in the cistern or add in a biodegradable polymer, which swells on contact with water.