Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI) expressed its appreciation to Senators John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) for introducing the Clean, Safe, Reliable Water Infrastructure Act (S. 1137) to bring affordable relief to America’s water infrastructure systems.

The bipartisan legislation not only expands the availability of resources for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects, it also includes formal authorization of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s WaterSense program, a voluntary, public-private partnership that encourages voluntary reduction of water consumption by consumers and businesses.

WaterSense products and certified services are at least 20 percent more water efficient than products only meeting federal standards in the same category. These more efficient products can help save billions of gallons of water each year.

Sen. Cardin noted: “We also want to make sure that we are getting more bang for the buck, and that means using water more efficiently. It’s why our bill authorizes support for the WaterSense partnership that encourages voluntary reduction of water consumption by consumers and businesses, delivering more than $33 billion to consumers in water and energy bill savings.”

PMI and its member companies have participated and supported the WaterSense program since EPA launched the program in 2006. More than 16,000 models of WaterSense products for bathrooms, commercial kitchens and other uses provide measurable water savings results.