IAPMO R&T, North America’s premier plumbing, water systems, and mechanical product certification agency, is now licensed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to certify point-of-use reverse osmosis (RO) systems to earn the WaterSense label.

IAPMO R&T 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, showerhead and weather-based irrigation controller models to the WaterSense specifications. Products bearing the WaterSense label must not only save water, but also perform as well or better than conventional models on the market. 

A point-of-use RO system is a water treatment device that is connected to a single fixture (e.g., under the kitchen sink) and uses the process of RO to reduce contaminants from the water supplied to that fixture. RO is the process by which pressure forces water through a semi-permeable membrane, creating a stream of treated water, called “permeate,” and a stream of reject water called “concentrate” or “brine.” These systems can potentially reduce water contaminants such as lead, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), PFAS, arsenic, and others. Point-of-use RO systems are typically installed in residential settings but can also be found in commercial office spaces or kitchens, according to the WaterSense specification.

A typical point-of-use RO system generates anywhere from five to 10 gallons of reject water for every gallon of treated water produced. A point-of-use RO system bearing the WaterSense label will send 2.3 gallons or less down the drain for every gallon of treated water it produces.

Consumers installing a WaterSense-labeled model will reduce water use by an average of 3,100 gallons per year compared to a typical system, a savings of 47,000 gallons over the life of the system.

The WaterSense program offers consumers a simple way to make product-purchasing choices that conserve water with no sacrifice to quality or performance. IAPMO R&T has been working closely with the EPA to offer ANSI-accredited certification of these products to the efficiency standards necessary to earn the WaterSense mark. Manufacturers wishing to have their point-of-use RO systems identified as complying with the WaterSense specification must have them certified as such by a qualified third-party certification body such as IAPMO R&T, which is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a provider of certification services to WaterSense specifications.

The EPA’s point-of-use RO specification can be viewed at https://www.epa.gov/watersense/point-use-reverse-osmosis-systems. The EPA is hosting a webinar 2 p.m. EST on Dec. 17 reviewing the specification for manufacturers who are interested in pursuing the WaterSense label. Interested parties can register at: https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_ouPFqm9fRfaz6r0bqOKJNg#/registration. 

For more information on having products listed, contact Tina Donda at (708) 995-3018 or visit https://www.iapmo.org/rt/certification-services/us-epa-watersense-certification.