South Africa can significantly improve water and energy efficiency by aligning its tap labelling programme with international standards, a new study by the South African National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi) and nongovernmental organisation CLASP shows.

The ‘In-depth assessment of water efficiency opportunities in South Africa’ study, released ahead of National Water Week from March 20 to 26, found that standards for taps and showerheads could contribute to mitigating the country’s water and energy crises by reducing the use of water and electricity needed to heat some of that water.

“This report seeks to advance water, and in turn, energy efficiency in South Africa by making recommendations for alignment to international standards, which have improved efficiency globally. “It encourages a flow follows function approach in the labelling and standardisation of taps and installations,” says Sanedi appliance standards and labelling project manager Ashanti Mogosetsi.

To solve the problem of inefficient water use, which can typically increase utility bills, countries are increasingly standardising taps and fixtures to maximise water savings.

The National Water and Sanitation Master Plan, published in 2018, targets the development of a water efficiency labelling scheme for taps and fixtures by 2025 in line with international standards.

In line with this, the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) Special Committee participated in the International Standards Organisation project to develop an ISO standard for water labelling systems.

The SABS considers the standard, once published, to be applied to establish a water efficiency labelling programme in South Africa, which predominantly imports commercially available taps.

“In establishing a water efficiency labelling programme, there must be uniformity between the requirements of all related South African National Standards (Sans) and international tap standards. Therefore, the gap analysis performed in this study aims to present recommendations to allow for such uniformity,” the report states.

The report recommends that, when South Africa implements the labelling programme, water flow rate targets should be set to improve water efficiency, while labelling should be defined by the function of the faucet, suggesting that Sans should introduce uniform descriptions of tap types and consider where the taps will be used, as well as their functions.

The report warns, however, of unintended consequences in which flow rates are reduced to save water, but users end up showering longer, for example, and further suggests the best minimum and maximum flow rates that would not compromise the user’s experience.