UL water product certification
The safety and quality of your drinking water matter. That's why, when you purchase a drinking water product, you should look for the UL Mark. UL certifies the water-related products that you use everyday in your home, including:
- Drinking water treatments units
- Chillers
- Coolers
- Cation exchange water softeners
- Distillation units
- Reverse osmosis systems
- Ultraviolet microbiological treatment systems
- Faucets
When you see the UL Mark on one of these products, you have peace of mind knowing that the global leader in product safety certification has independently tested and validated its safety and performance. Only products that pass UL's rigorous certification and ongoing compliance requirements can bear the UL Mark.
What the UL Mark means
The UL Mark communicates manufacturers' commitment to the safety and quality of their products.
- The UL Mark on a product indicates that the product has been tested to nationally recognized safety and performance standards. Our dedicated team of toxicologists, engineers and chemists specializing in water treatment products has more than 400 combined years of experience testing water products to these standards.
- UL's unmatched depth of expertise in water product certification and commitment to public safety backs each UL Mark. Manufacturers voluntarily submit products to UL for independent, third-party validation of their product's safety and performance. No other mark is as sought after or accepted as the UL Mark.
- When you see the Mark, you can be sure the product continues to pass rigorous, independent tests for safety and quality. UL's field representatives are located worldwide and make periodic visits to each manufacturer's production facility to determine that products continue to meet safety requirements. A product must continue to meet safety requirements to bear the UL Mark.
As a global leader in water product certification, UL's water product certification program is fully accredited in the United States and Canada. UL is a recognized certifier of water products by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is an active participant on numerous national standards committees and industry task groups.
Search for UL certified products
UL's Online Certifications Directory gives you free access to every UL product directory in a single, easy-to-use online database that's updated daily.
WaterSenseSM
Similar to EPA's ENERGY STAR program, WaterSense is a partnership program sponsored by the EPA to promote water efficiency. And with the growing demand for environmentally responsible products, UL is helping consumers like you choose products that demonstrate water efficiency.
As an EPA-licensed certifying body, UL works with manufacturers to help them obtain the WaterSense label for plumbing products that demonstrate at least 20 percent greater efficiency in water utilization. Manufacturers submit their products to certify conformance with WaterSense specifications. Only products that meet WaterSense specifications are allowed to bear the WaterSense label.
Water efficiency facts
According to the EPA:
- Faucets account for more than 15 percent of indoor household water use --more than a trillion gallons of water across the United States each year.
- Even though federal law requires that new faucets not exceed 2.2 gallons per minute (gpm), older faucets can flow at rates as high as 3 to 7 gpm.
- High-efficiency bathroom sink faucets and accessories can reduce this standard flow by more than 30 percent without sacrificing performance. Households using WaterSense-labeled bathroom sink faucets or faucet accessories could save an average of more than 500 gallons each year.
- Toilets are the main source of water use in the home, accounting for approximately 30 percent of residential indoor water consumption.
- Over the course of your lifetime, you will likely flush the toilet nearly 140,000 times. With a WaterSense labeled high-efficency toilet (HET), you can save 4,000 gallons per year.
- Unlike first generation "low-flow" toilets, WaterSense labeled HETs combine high efficiency with high performance.
For more information on the EPA's WaterSense program, visit www.epa.gov/WaterSense.
