ONTARIO, CA -- A 2010 amendment to the New York City Plumbing Code requiring that a wide range of plumbing fixtures bear the WaterSense label (or have been certified as meeting the same efficiency standards) if they are to be sold or installed within city limits will go into effect on July 1, giving manufacturers one more month to make proper preparations.
Approved by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in October 2010, Section PC 604 of the code was amended by adding a new subsection 604.4.1 that reads: “WaterSense program label required: Showerheads, private lavatory faucets, water closets and for urinals, the urinal flush valve or fixture/valve combination, shall meet the specifications required for the WaterSense program label and shall bear such label, or shall be approved in accordance with this code. Exception: Water closets in public restrooms.”
The new requirements for each product (with the previous requirements in parentheses) are: Showerheads, 2.0 gallons per minute (2.5 gpm); Private Lavatory Faucets, 1.5 gpm (2.2 gpm); Water Closets, 1.28 gallons per flush (1.6 gpf); Urinals, 0.5 gpf (1.0 gpf). The new requirements represent a 20‐50 percent reduction in water usage from the previous standards.
Launched by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in January 2007, the WaterSense product‐labeling program helps consumers identify high‐performance, water‐efficient fixtures. Products bearing the WaterSense label must not only save water, but also perform as well or better than conventional models on the market.
IAPMO R&T, North America’s premier third party certification body for plumbing and mechanical products, has been a licensed provider of WaterSense certification since 2007, certifying the first high‐efficiency toilet (HET) to the standard in April of that year. To date, IAPMO R&T has certified thousands of lavatory faucet, toilet, urinal and showerhead models to the WaterSense specifications.