Overview:
The Irvine Ranch Water District provides drinking water to the City of Irvine and monitors the quality of water from its drinking sources. Through regular testing of 18 drinking water wells located in Santa Ana, the IRWD has never detected TCE in drinking water served to any of its customers. The IRWD does not have any drinking water wells that are located in the TCE plume emanating from the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Also, the EPA in March 2009 noted that no "potential vapor intrusion problems" exist in Irvine neighborhoods because there is no TCE present to create those vapors.

Background:
In 1985 portions of the groundwater basin beneath the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station and the central area of Irvine were found to contain trichloroethylene (TCE) which are aircraft cleaning solvents known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs).  These chemicals resulted from past disposal and waste management practices on the former base that was common before the development of stricter environmental regulations in the mid-1970’s.  A one-by-three mile plume of contamination now extends off the base (see map below).  The contamination is about 150 feet deep beneath the base and 300-1,000 feet deep in the community area. 

Irvine’s Drinking Water is Safe
First and foremost, drinking water in Irvine has been and remains absolutely safe. IRWD drinking water continues to be well within all state and federal water quality regulations. IRWD maintains a state-certified water quality laboratory that annually performs more than a quarter of a million tests on our water supply to ensure that this quality is monitored and maintained. The plume does not affect IRWD’s drinking water since IRWD’s main well field is still several miles from the affected area.

Cleaning up the Groundwater
IRWD, the Orange County Water District and the United States Department of the Navy have completed a joint project, the Irvine Desalter Project (IDP), designed to clean up the TCE plume.  The IDP began full operation in January 2007 and pumps water from the plume of contamination caused by the use of aircraft solvents on the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Following treatment to remove the TCE, this water is used only for non-drinking purposes in IRWD’s extensive recycled water system. It will provide 1.3 billion gallons of clean water annually, enough to irrigate 1,300 acres of landscaping. It is projected that it will take 40 years to clean up the plume.

Learn more:

• IRWD and City of Irvine Letter to the Community (pdf format)
• Trichloroethylene (TCE) and IRWD Drinking Water Frequently Asked Questions
  • (PDF version)
• Letter from the United States Environmental Protection Agency noting no potential vapor intrusion problems in Irvine
• Additional Water Monitoring Testing in the Irvine Woodbridge Area reaffirms no TCE in IRWD Drinking Water. Click here for State Certified Laboratory report.
• Where does IRWD get its water?
• IRWD Annual Water Quality Report
• Map of the TCE plume - updated May 2009
• Irvine Desalter Project
• Irvine Desalter Project brochure (pdf format)
• The Navy Base Restoration Advisory Committee Meetings
• Department of Navy Fact Sheet (pdf format)
• Documents on file at Heritage Park Regional Library, 14361 Yale Avenue, Irvine, CA 92604, (949) 936-4040.

In the News:

• EPA: El Toro toxic runoff poses no risk to Irvine residents

Brochures:

Click here for more details	Click here

For easy viewing of IRWD's publications in the manner in which they were intended, we have converted many of our publications into Adobe® Acrobat.PDF files. If you do not already have the FREE Acrobat Reader, please click the following button to get Acrobat Reader from Adobe® before you attempt to download the files.