PMI Adopts New Position Statement Calling for Maximizing Consumer Choice and Water Efficiency

For Immediate Release

ROLLING MEADOWS, ILLINOIS (JULY 24, 2009) - The Plumbing Manufacturers Institute (PMI) recently adopted a new position statement advocating the efficient use of water while also maximizing consumer choice on water-saving products. As the new statement notes, “We believe that these two objectives are not mutually exclusive and can be achieved simultaneously.”

PMI Executive Director Barbara C. Higgens says PMI believes that responsible water use begins with awareness and education, which put consumers in a better position to make personal decisions and trade-offs. “Water efficiency is best achieved by pursuing the overall goal of water savings as a society, but not by dictating how the savings are to be achieved,” Higgens remarks. “Every circumstance is different, and PMI believes that providing end users with flexibility to make their own decisions is the best way to move the marketplace towards true water savings.”

Higgens adds that allowing manufacturers and designers the freedom to innovate “in both form and function” results in better solutions that do not require great sacrifice to save water.

“It was the freedom to innovate that led to the current generation of top-performing toilets that actually exceed the federal standard of 1.6 gallons-per-flush, saving 20 percent or more on water use without sacrificing performance,” Higgens notes. These new high-efficiency toilets, called HETs, work so well at saving water and meeting consumer performance standards that PMI successfully led the effort to pass legislation in California and Texas, calling for all newly installed toilets to be HETs.

“Just as PMI believes in its members’ abilities to innovate our way to water-savings, we also believe that the American consumer can be our strategic partner in this efficiency effort,” Higgens comments. “Educate consumers on our society’s water predicament. Then give them an array of options, backed by a pricing system that reflects water’s true market value. Do all these things in a proper and above-board manner, and we at PMI have faith that most American consumers will make the right choices to save enough water to make a difference everywhere without lessening our quality of life.”

Read and download the full text of the position paper at SafePlumbing.org.

About PMI: The Plumbing Manufacturers Institute is the voluntary, not-for-profit international trade association of manufacturers of plumbing products, serving as the Voice of the Plumbing Industry. Member-companies produce a substantial quantity of the nation’s plumbing products.

For more information on PMI or its semi-annual meetings, contact the association at 1921 Rohlwing Road, Unit G, Rolling Meadows, IL, 60008; tel.: 847.481.5500; fax: 847.481.5501. Or visit www.pmihome.org.

PMI Mission Statement:

  • To promote the water efficiency, health, safety, quality and environmental sustainability of plumbing products, while maximizing consumer choice and value in a fair and open marketplace.
  • To provide a forum for the exchange of information and industry education.
  • To represent openly the members’ interests and advocate for sound environmental and public health policies in the regulatory/legislative processes.
  • To enhance the plumbing industry’s growth and expansion.

NOTE: THE PMI LOGO CAN BE PROVIDED VIA E-MAIL, UPON REQUEST. Please contact PMI for more information.

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