Overview
The
WELS Scheme is a national cooperative scheme which promotes domestic water use efficiency and conservation by mandating water use performance labelling, and providing for minimum performance standards, for domestic water using products.
The WELS Scheme is administered by the Australian Government, in collaboration with the State and Territory Governments, and has the aims to:
- Conserve water supplies by reducing water consumption;
- Provide information for purchasers of water-use and water-saving products; and
- Promote the adoption of efficient and effective water-use and water-saving technologies.
The WELS Scheme came into effect in March 2005 under the
Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Act 2005. It is administered by the Australian Government on behalf of all the States and Territories, and is supported by an Intergovernmental Agreement and complementary State and Territory legislation, including Tasmania's
Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Act 2013.
Choosing water-efficient products
The WELS Scheme aims to help customers choose between products by comparing their relative water efficiency by using labels on individual items. You also can
use the WELS Scheme database to look up the water efficiency of a range of products available in Australia.
The WELS Scheme is important in the effort to conserve our water resources because households account for about 16% of the consumption of the mains-supplied water in Australia, the second largest share of supplied or distributed water use after agriculture.
Everyone has a role to play in reducing water consumption. Choosing a water-efficient product is one way to do this while saving money.
Reducing or managing demand for urban water usage may also make more water available for other productive uses such as industry and agriculture.
A range of studies have found the Scheme to be a highly cost effective alternative to augmenting urban water supplies.
Further information
WELS Regulator
GPO Box 3090 Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
1800 218 478 (toll-free within Australia) or
+61 2 6272 4030 (international calls)
www.waterrating.gov.au