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Guides · Tile 01

What the stars on a kitchen tap mean

The stars on a tap’s water rating label show how much water flows through it: the more stars, the fewer litres a minute. For the kitchen sink, the WELS scheme suggests 3 or 4 stars, so the tap can still fill a pot or a sink for washing.

The scheme behind the label

The Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) scheme is run by the Australian Government together with the state and territory governments. It regulates seven types of water-using and water-saving products, and taps are one of them.

Every product the scheme regulates must be registered and labelled with the correct water rating information, and that includes showing a water rating label or text advice with the product in store and online. So a kitchen tap on a shop shelf or a product page should carry its rating where you can see it.

Taps the scheme covers

  • Tap equipment for a fixed basin, sink or laundry tub.

Taps it leaves out

  • Bidet taps
  • Tap equipment used only over a bath or spa
  • Taps built into an appliance, for example a chilled or boiling water dispenser
  • Thermostatic taps

Second-hand products are outside the scheme too, as are products a person brings into Australia for their own use.

Reading the label, top to bottom

The label has three parts. The star rating sits at the top and shows the product’s water efficiency. The middle shows how much water it uses, and for taps that figure is in litres per minute. The bottom carries the registration and product details: the company that registered the product, its licence and registration numbers, and the standards that guide how products are tested.

A sketch of the three parts of a water rating label A simplified diagram, not the official label artwork. A tile-shaped card is divided into three bands. The top band holds a row of stars and the words star rating. The middle band reads litres per minute. The bottom band reads registration and product details. Litres per minute Registration details
A sketch of the label’s three bands, not the official artwork: stars at the top, litres per minute in the middle, registration details at the bottom.

The star bands for taps

Each star band spans a range of flow rates, because a product behaves differently as the water pressure changes.

The bands step down as the stars go up. A 3-star tap uses more than 7.5 and up to 9 litres a minute, the minimum the National Construction Code requires, and a 6-star tap, the scheme’s highest efficiency, uses up to 4.5 litres a minute. In between, WELS calls 4 stars efficient and 5 stars very efficient. The full table is on the WELS scheme’s page.

Some taps earn a bonus star for a feature that cuts the total water used. The scheme’s own example is a 3-star tap fitted with a sensor to turn it on, which receives a bonus star and so becomes a 4-star tap.

Close-up of a curved stainless steel kitchen tap spout with a small black button on its pull-down head, against a blurred white kitchen.
A gooseneck kitchen tap with a pull-down head, in close focus. Photo by James Yarema on Unsplash

Why the kitchen sits in the middle of the scale

More stars is not automatically the right answer at the sink. The WELS scheme suggests a 5 or 6-star tap for a bathroom basin, but a 3 or 4-star tap in the kitchen and laundry, so there is enough flow to fill a pot or a sink for washing. The government’s YourHome guide agrees on the kitchen, suggesting 3 or 4 stars for the kitchen sink (and 4 or 5 for bathroom basins).

A pot does not fill faster because you are in a hurry; it fills at roughly the flow the label states, depending on your water pressure. If the pot matters more than the stars at your sink, that middle number is the one to read.

The scheme’s guidance also has a cheerful aside for the laundry: a tap with an extra 6-star spray function can save water when the dog needs a rinse in the laundry tub.

The minimum in new homes and rentals

State and territory plumbing regulations require taps in new buildings to be at least 3 stars, which means no more than 9 litres a minute. That 9-litre figure is also the maximum flow rate for taps allowed to be installed under plumbing regulations.

For rentals, the scheme notes that a number of state and territory governments have set minimum water efficiency for fittings in rental properties, typically 3 stars for showers, taps and toilets, and that a landlord may be liable for the water bills where a property does not meet them. It asks readers to check their own government’s requirements.

Checking a tap before you buy it

You can confirm the information on a label by searching the WELS product register by model name or registration number. A product missing from the database is not registered, supplying one is against the law, and the rating shown on it may be false or misleading. The register is at the WELS public product register.

One more check is on a different scheme. A tap needs WaterMark certification before WELS will register it, so a registered tap has already passed through the plumbing certification described in the WaterMark guide.

What an older tap may be costing

The scheme says an older product can use as much as 50% more water than a 4 or 5-star replacement. It also points out that plumbing products bought today are likely to stay in use for more than 10 years, so the rating stays with you for a long time. For habits that save water at the sink whatever tap you have, see saving water at the kitchen sink.

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