Knowledge. Is Power.
Landscape Irrigation Studies
For more than a decade, IRWD's water conservation department has partnered with local, regional and state agencies to conduct research studies in landscape irrigation, irrigation controllers, and runoff reduction.
Commercial ET-Based Irrigation Controller Water Savings Study
This September 2006 report estimates that commercial customers who installed ET controllers saved 601 gallons per day on average over a five-year post-installation period. Moreover, water savings observed in the first year tended to persist with no observable decrease in water savings over the five-year post-installation period.
Executive Summary of the Residential Runoff Reduction (R3) Study
Begun in Fall 2001 and concluded in 2003, this research project resulted in an average annual water savings of 10% for those study participants using "smart" weather-based controllers to schedule and regulate their landscape irrigation systems.
View or print the complete R3 Study report.
Initial IRWD Study of Weather-Based Irrigation Controllers
Beginning mid-1998 and continuing through fall 2000, IRWD, the Municipal Water District of Orange County and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California conducted a study of the effectiveness of weather-based remote-controlled residential irrigation technology. The irrigation controllers employed in the study, known as ET controllers, were designed to receive weekly weather updates and automatically adjust irrigation times to meet plant needs.
ET refers to evapo-transpiration, the rate at which plants lose water through evaporation and transpiration. Not only did the ET controller technology apply the "correct" amount of water to each home's landscaping, it also eliminated the need for complicated programming of the sprinkler clock by homeowners.
For a detailed technical account of this study, access the full report for the Residential Weather-Based Irrigation Scheduling: the Irvine "ET Controller" Study. For an overview of this study, access the Excecutive Summary and ET Controller Savings Through the Second Post-Retrofit Year: A Brief Update.
General Watering Guidelines for Eucalyptus Species in Southern California Urban Landscapes
According to this 2009 report prepared for IRWD by the University of California Cooperative Extension,"The goal when irrigating eucalyptus should be to wet the soil to a significant depth by supplying water slowly over a longer period. Deep infrequent irrigation will allow the root tap system to develop..."
In 2012 IRWD completed a pilot study of the WaterDex, a remote irrigation controller schedule adjustment device. The WaterDex is a wireless add-on device that allows users to easily adjust the irrigation schedules on their irrigation controllers on a regular basis. The study found that overall, there was a high level of customer satisfaction with the WaterDex, and the average water savings associated with the device is 3.7% or 13 gallons per day per household.
Reducing Potable Water Demand on Agricultural Crops: Recycled Water for Strawberry Production
IRWD studied how recycled water affects the growth, flowering and fruit quality of strawberries, a crop considered to be salt-sensitive. If the strawberry production is acceptable to the farmers, using recycled water on strawberries could save approximately three acre-feet of potable water per acre of strawberries in production. To date, the strawberries receiving recycled water have shown no reduction in size or quality. 835 acres of strawberries, including some avocado groves, have been irrigated with recycled water within IRWD's service area.
Water Use Efficiency in Technology
|
IRWD water conservation study in system pressure reduction: Is System Pressure Reduction a Valuable Water Conservation Tool? |
|
|
IRWD commercial and industrial water conservation studies in supermarket cooling and water re-circulation: Calfed Supermarket Cooling Study, Executive Summary This study, published September 2003, investigated the potential water savings of advanced water treatment on typical urban supermarket cooling systems. The goal of the study was to quantify the water savings potential and the economic feasability of advanced water treatment in cooling systems, and to look for water saving opportunities in other water uses found in supermarkets. Converting X-Ray Machines from Water Pass-Through to Re-Circulating |
Synthetic Turf
The Final Status Report of the Central Orange County Turf Replacement Project was a collaborative effort by IRWD and the Cities of Irvine, Lake Forest, Newport Beach and Tustin. This demonstration project, begun Fall 2005 and completed Spring 2006, replaced select plots of live grass with synthetic turf.
In addition to the water savings resulting from these installations, the demonstration sites require no fertilizers, no pesticides and no mowing, while cutting down on the amount of green waste, like grass clippings, going into landfills. Public response to the demonstration sites in each city has been favorable.
