Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA) has issued new regulations in January which requires all water fixtures in the market to get a mandatory ?Water Efficiency Label?. This label ensures a reduced water flow rate.

This is one of the major new measures to minimise the water consumption rate in the UAE. Abu Dhabi emirate increased the water and electricity tariff effective January 1 to force residents to minimise consumption. Like the Water Efficiency Label, ESMA had also introduced mandatory Energy Efficiency Labels for products such as air conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators.

The grace period to stop manufacturing and importing non-compliant water fixtures will end on June 30, 2015. The grace period to clear the existing stock of non-compliant fixtures is December 31, 2015. Fixtures that do not meet the ESMA requirements will not be allowed in the market from January 1, 2016.

The new fixtures with water-saving features are expected to reduce the water consumption by as much as 60% than that of existing ordinary fixtures in the market.