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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	17-P-0352
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Office of Inspector General
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At a Glance
Why We Did This Review
The Office of Inspector General
of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
examined whether the
accomplishments reported by
the EPA's WaterSense
program reflected actual
results. We evaluated EPA
controls to assess the accuracy
of WaterSense product label
claims of water and energy
savings, verify industry data
used to estimate program
accomplishments, and test the
veracity of the program's
annual accomplishment
estimates.
WaterSense partners
manufacture, distribute
and sell WaterSense-labeled
products and promote water
efficiency. These products
include faucets, showerheads,
toilets, urinals, pre-rinse spray
valves, and irrigation
controllers.
This report addresses the
following EPA goals or
cross-agency strategies:
•	Protecting America's
waters.
•	Working toward a
sustainable future.
Send all inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391
or visit www.epa.gov/oia.
Listing of OIG reports.
EPA's Voluntary WaterSense Program
Demonstrated Success
What We Found
The EPA's WaterSense program demonstrated
adequate controls for ensuring that its estimated
water and energy savings were reasonable. The
program established goals, measured
performance, and established controls for
reducing program risk.
The EPA estimated that
consumers saved over
1.5 trillion gallons of water
through use of WaterSense-
labeled products. Consumers
saved an estimated $1,100
for every federal dollar spent
on the program.
However, the program lacked effective control
over one performance measure: the number of
partners working to improve water efficiency. The EPA can improve its tracking of
this measure. The EPA also can improve program accountability by adopting its
tracked water savings as an agency outcome measure.
The EPA launched WaterSense in 2006, in part, to ensure the performance of
water-efficient products. The EPA estimated that through 2015, the use of
WaterSense-labeled products saved 1.5 trillion gallons of water and reduced the
amount of energy needed to heat, pump and treat water by 212 billion kilowatt
hours. As a result, consumers saved an estimated $32.6 billion. The EPA
reported that more than 1,738 partners had joined the WaterSense program
through 2015.
The EPA's voluntary WaterSense program adhered to good practices in
program management, achieved significant returns on investment, documented
its controls on water savings and product performance, and obtained broad
partner and consumer support. The EPA could identify and disseminate the
good management practices of the WaterSense program to support the 2016
Performance Management Improvement Accountability Act's requirement to
enhance program management across the agency. In our opinion, the
WaterSense program is a sound model for voluntary programs. With
adjustments, the program will strengthen its potential for producing
beneficial results.
Recommendations and Planned Agency Actions
We recommend that the Assistant Administrator for Water share WaterSense
program management practices, evaluate the appropriateness of adopting water
savings as a program measure, implement controls for partners to periodically
reconfirm their commitment to the program, and revise annual partner reporting.
The agency agreed with all recommendations and provided acceptable corrective
actions and completion dates. All recommendations are resolved.

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