SAVING WATER
TOGETHER FOR
YEARS
EPA
WaterSense 2020 ACCOMPLISHMENTS REPORT

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WaterSense Description and Mission
Launched in 2006, WaterSense® is a voluntary partnership program sponsored by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that is both a label for water-efficient products and a
resource for helping consumers and businesses conserve water. The WaterSense label makes it
easy to find water-efficient products, new homes, and programs that help people save water,
energy, and money on their utility bills.
In October 2018, Congress passed the America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of 2018 to
improve drinking water and water quality. As part of its commitment to improving water
infrastructure, ft included the formal authorization of the WaterSense program.
WaterSense aims to transform the marketplace for products that use water and promote a nationwide ethic of water
efficiency to illustrate the value of water and the importance of saving water for future generations. Under WaterSense's
vision, all Americans will understand the importance of water efficiency and take actions to reduce their water use—in
their homes, outdoors, and at work.
WaterSense Partners Make it Possible
A great deal of the program's success is due to the more than 2,100 partners that
produce and promote WaterSense labeled products, homes, and programs. WaterSense
partners represent public and private utilities; state, federal, and local governments;
non-profit organizations; manufacturers; retailers and distributors; builders; professional
certifying organizations; and other organizations with the goal of saving water. To:
promote WaterSense's campaigns such as Fix a Leak Week, partners host online webinars
or workshops to show residents how to find and fix household leaks. Others organize
running races to promote water savings. Some reach out to younger audiences with
contests, festivals, characters, and events. Manufacturer partners educated contractors on
WaterSense labeled products in advertising, trade shows, and even on the radio!
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Partner Totals by State
1-9 j 10-24 j | 25-49 j j 50 - 99 J 100+
2

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WaterSense Labeled Product Search Tool and Rebate Finder
REBATE FINDER
o
SHOWERHEADS
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* I *
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f
SPRAY SPRINKLER BODIES
BATHROOM SINK
FAUCETS/ACCESSORIES
To connect more consumers with WaterSense labeled products, the program provides a
Product Search Tool and Rebate Finder on the WaterSense website. Originally created in
2007 and 2009, respectively, the Product Search Tool and Rebate Finder got a new look in
2019.	Consumers can use the improved Rebate Finder to find WaterSense partners in their
area that offer incentives for purchasing water-efficient indoor and outdoor fixtures. In
2020,	the tool included 285 different rebates; the most popular incentive programs are for
WaterSense labeled toilets and irrigation controllers. With over 36,000 product models of
toilets, showerheads, faucets, urinals, controllers, and sprinkler bodies available in a wide
variety of styles and prices, consumers and businesses can search for products that have been
independently certified to earn the WaterSense label. More than 257,000 searches were conducted in 2020, with the most
popular searches for toilets (112,711) and controllers (64,586), followed by faucets (30,546) and showerheads (29,820).
Review of Product Specifications
The 2018 AWIA required that EPA review existing WaterSense product specifications for tank-type toilets, flushing urinals,
bathroom faucets, showerheads, and irrigation controllers for potential improvements to water efficiency and/or product
performance. EPA conducted a review in 2019, including public meetings, webinars on the specifications, and a public
comment period. In 2020, EPA released a notice that explained its decision that it would not make updates or changes to
those WaterSense product specifications. The program will continue to review the efficacy and effectiveness of its product
specifications to determine if revisions are appropriate.
New Product: Soil Moisture-Based Irrigation Controllers
In 2020, EPA completed the public input process to add a new product to its suite of WaterSense labeled landscape
irrigation products. The final WaterSense Specification for Soil Moisture-Based Irrigation Control Technologies was released
in February 2021. Also known as soil moisture sensors (SMSs), these technologies detect the amount of moisture in the
ground beneath the landscape and override scheduled irrigation when plants don't need water. EPA estimates that
replacing a clock-based controller with a WaterSense labeled SMS will save an average home with an automatic landscape
irrigation system more than 15,000 gallons of water annually. WaterSense labeled SMSs or weather-based irrigation
controllers can be paired with WaterSense labeled spray sprinkler bodies to save even more water outdoors.
40,000 -r-
35,000 --
30,000 --
25,000 --
20,000 --
15,000 --
10,000 --
5,000 --
36,595
TOTAL
WATERSENSE
LABELED
PRODUCT
MODELS
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20
06
Program Launch,
Certified Professional
Programs Labeled
20
07
Tank-Type Toilets,
Bathroom Faucets
and Accessories
Labeled
20
08
Partner of the Year
Awards Launched
20
09
Fix a Leak Week
Launched,
Flushing Urinals,
Homes Labeled
20
10
Showerheads
Labeled
20
11
Weather-Based
Irrigation Controllers
Labeled
20
12
WaterSense at
Work, Shower
Better Launched

FIND A PRO


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IRRIGATION CONTROLLERS
Since 2006, WaterSense labeled products have saved
5.3 trillion
2007 - 2017
gallons of water
4
>7 - 201
*
2018
*
2019
*
2020
968
billion
gallons
saved in
2020
That's the water used in 200 days
by all U.S. households!
$108 billion
in water and
energy bills
The amount of energy needed to
heat, pump, and treat water by
603 billion
kilowatt hours, enough to
supply a year's a
worth of power
to more than
56.6
homes...
*	4 A
*	7 *
242 million
metric tons
of greenhouse gas
emissions...
ikiiijk
...the equivalent
of planting
4 billion
trees.
Inspect for broken
or damaged
sprinkler heads.
m, i HHij
r
FLUSHOMETER-VALVE
TOILETS
% i '
% • '
\ • #
SPRAY SPRINKLER BODIES
Your Style. More Savings.
#YourBetterBathroom
20
Multifamily
Homes, Pre-Rinse
Spray Valves
(PRSVs) Labeled
20
14
Sprinkler
Spruce-Up,
H2Otel Challenge
Launched
¦
¦

Flushometer-
Valve Toilets
Labeled
20
1©
WaterSense
Program 10-Year
Anniversary
20
17
Spray Sprinkler
Bodies Labeled,
EPA Water Score
for Multifamily

America's Water
A 1
W
Infrastructure Act,


Your Better Bathroom

i
Launched
i
19
Product
Specification
Review, PRSV
Spec Sunset

Your Better Yard
Launched

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Partners Find Creative Ways to Promote Savings
Due to restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, most WaterSense partners could
not hold in-person events, school visits, outreach, or inspections during 2020. Although
they missed face-to-face interaction with their customers, many partners found creative
ways to promote water savings remotely. For example, Athens-Clarke County, Georgia,
packaged its water festival in a box and delivered conservation ideas and tools to local
kids. Cobb County, Georgia, held its rain barrel workshop outdoors, establishing six feet of
distance between each participant or family.
In December 2020, WaterSense held a series
of roundtables to learn how partners
pivoted on outreach, education, audit,
and incentive programs to accommodate
pandemic requirements. Partners shared
their successes, from virtual 5k races to
online leak detection workshops, and
WaterSense used their input to create
Remote Possibilities, a document partners can use to heip plan future outreach.
Save Water
While Staying
Home
If your family is staying inside,
you might use a lot more water
than usual. But your water and
sewer bill doesn't have to rise toe
high when you're homebound.
r A
WaterSense
www.epa.gov/watersense
Since many families used more water while working and learning from home,
WaterSense created several new tools to promote saving water at home, including
social media posts, a flier, and a coloring book for kids, to encourage consumers to conserve water. These
resources include simple actions people can do around the home, like turning off the tap while brushing their teeth and
only running full loads of laundry, to save water every day.
New Addition: WaterSense Labeled Home Program Version 2.0
In addition to labeling products, the WaterSense label can be earned for
water-efficient homes. To make the WaterSense home certification process
easier and more flexible for home builders, EPA completed work in 2020 to
release the WaterSense Specification for Homes, Version 2.0 in early 2021. The
updated specification includes requirements to install WaterSense labeled
plumbing fixtures and
be at least 30 percent
more water-efficient
than a home with
characteristics typical
of new construction as
determined by a Home Certification Organization (HCO). As part of
the new specification, EPA has approved both the Residential Energy
Services Network (RESNET) and Home Innovation Research Labs as
HCOs capable of certifying WaterSense labeled homes.
In anticipation of the release of the WaterSense Labeled Homes
Program Version 2, RESNET assisted WaterSense in conducting a pilot
program to evaluate the effectiveness of the draft Version 2 updated
program requirements and criteria. In November 2020, WaterSense
builder partner KB Home was awarded the first certification under the
pilot program for a home built in Henderson, Nevada.The pilot program
provided valuable feedback for EPA and confirmed that Version 2 is
effective for meeting EPA's goals for the home certification marketplace.
Water Score for
Multifamily Housing
To help multifamily building owners and
tenants save water, WaterSense created
the EPA Water Score for multifamily
homes. The score, which is generated by
the ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®
tool, is a 1 -to-100 rating of how a building
uses water compared to similar buildings
across the United States. Once the score
is determined, EPA has resources such as
worksheets and guides to help owners
make changes or upgrades to their
properties to save water, energy, and
operating costs.
6

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Improving Outdoor Water Efficiency
As more people stayed home in 2020, they spent more time outdoors—and saw
how much water their irrigation systems use! For do-it-yourselfers, EPA published
mini-reports on both WaterSense labeled spray sprinkler bodies and weather-based
irrigation controllers to help customers understand the benefits of installing those
fixtures.The program also developed a simple checklist to help homeowners walk
through their landscape and lookfor problem areas that could use some attention.
Because landscape choices also can influence water use, WaterSense developed new
social media tools to help partners promote the use of mulch and drought-tolerant
planting, and a new turfgrass page on the WaterSense website to help consumers
make smart lawn management decisions.

FIND A PRO
To help municipalities learn more about WaterSense labeled products and other irrigation system
upgrades, in 2020 WaterSense published a case study highlighting a project in Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, where upgrading the irrigation systems in median strips saved water and money. In
early 2021, WaterSense completed a mini-report on WaterSense iabeled soil moisture sensors for
do-it-yourselfers and professionals to learn how to install this technology. For those who prefer to
hire contractors to help them conserve outdoors, the Find a Pro tool on the WaterSense website
helps people find irrigation professionals certified by a WaterSense labeled program focused on
water efficiency.
Landscapes Match Lifestyles in the Your Better Yard Campaign
As part of the effort to increase outdoor
water savings, WaterSense created the
new Your Better Yard campaign in 2020.
Your BetterYard is intended to help
homeowners enhance their landscapes
with water-saving techniques and
technologies that fit their lifestyles and
yard type. Homeowners can make their
yards more attractive and water-efficient
by reviewing landscaping and watering
tips associated with several different
landscape lifestyles. From Backyard Beauty
to Low-Maintenance Living, Your Better
Yard has something for almost every
landscape.
Looking for Your
Better Yard?
•	Plants arranged by
hydrozones based on water
heeds
•	Microirrigation to get water
right to the roots
•	Consultation with a certified
irrigation system designer
•	WaterSense labeled spray
sprinkler bodies
•	WaterSense labeled
"rrigation controller
WaterSense
www.epa.gov/watersense/outdoors
Webinars Made Water Efficiency Education Virtually Easy
Online education was a popular way to share information in 2020. WaterSense continued collaborating with its partner
Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) to offer a series of free public webinars on a variety of outdoor water topics. Experts
discussed the benefits of soil moisture sensors, plant choices, soil amendments, irrigation tips for a healthy landscape,
and landscape transformations during three webinars that 400 people attended in 2020. Recordings are available on the
WaterSense website.
To help commercial and multifamily building owners and managers reduce water and energy use, WaterSense also held a
webinar series in partnership with EPA's ENERGY STAR program. More than 800 people attended webinars covering topics
like controlling water waste, the EPA Water Score for Multifamily Buildings, and how to design and maintain water-smart
attractive, healthy commercial landscapes.
Cover open ground
with wood chips or
yard clippings to
hold moisture in
the soil and save on
7

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Award Winners
Through the Years
The WaterSense Partner of Year and Excellence Awards launched in 2008 to recognize partners who
have gone above and beyond in supporting WaterSense and contributing to the program's success
by enhancing the market for water-efficient products, practices, and services. Since its beginning,
WaterSense has recognized 68 organizations for their tremendous efforts in reducing water use.
Over the years, the Awards program has undergone changes to diversify the sectors represented; in
2013, WaterSense added of the Sustained Excellence Award for organizations that have consistently
won a Partner of the Year Award at least four times.
EPA
4
WaterSense
onon partner
ZUZW OF THE YEAS
2020 Winners
Sustained Excellence Award Winners:
Athens-Clarke County Public Utilities Department,
Citrus County Utilities, City of Charlottesville, City of
Piano, Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning
District, Kohler Co., Sonoma-Marin Saving Water
Partnership, KB Home
Partners of the Year: Big Bear Lake Department of
Water and Power, Irvine Ranch Water District, City
of Sacramento Department of Utilities, Upper San
Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, Northern
Colorado Water Conservancy District, Orange
County Utilities, City of Aspen, Fulton Homes
Excellence Award Winners: City of Allen, City
of Durham Water Management, City of Flagstaff,
Cobb County Water System, Energy Inspectors
Corporation, G3LA, LLC, Hilton Head Public Service
District (PSD), Municipal Water District of Orange
County, Placer County Water Agency, SCV Water
(Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency), SUEZ North
America,TheToro Company
Each of these partners has won at least two awards; some of
the ones in larger text have won as many as 9 or 10!
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Conservancy
PHONE (866) WTR-SEN5 (987-7367) WEBSITE www.epa.gov/watersense EMAIL watersense@epa.gov
rQA EPA-832-F-21-024
OClM June 2021

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