Cheryl Clary appointed as Executive Director of Finance and Administration

Cheryl Clary has been appointed as the Irvine Ranch Water District Executive Director of Finance and Administration. As a member of the IRWD team, Clary will be responsible for overseeing IRWD finance and treasury operations, including a combined 2012/13 operating and capital budget of approximately $175 million.  She will also oversee the customer service and purchasing departments as well as information technology.

“At IRWD, we believe our employees are our best asset and Cheryl brings with her a wealth of real world experience.” said Paul Cook, IRWD General Manager. “Cheryl’s extensive background in finance, accounting, and information services will reinforce our commitment to provide our customers with a reliable and safe water supply at the highest level of service and lowest possible cost.”

Cheryl Clary has held several executive positions, most recently as the Chief Financial Officer for DPI Specialty Foods, a privately held food distribution company with $1 billion in sales.  Her experience also includes time as the Chief Financial Officer/Senior Vice President of Finance with Southwest Water Company, a publicly traded water and contract services business operating in multiple states with $225 million in sales and more than 200 million customers.

She also spent 18 years with Atlantic Richfield Company as the Chief Financial Officer for three large business units where she had full financial responsibility for all accounting and controls, strategic planning, performance analysis, contracting and procurement and information technology.

Clary is a Certified Public Accountant and a graduate of California State University Northridge with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and the UCLA Executive Program at the Anderson School of Management. 

Today officially kicks off the season of holiday cooking and enjoyment of those culinary delights. Some might have the traditional turkey dinner and others might prefer ham or a roast. Deep frying turkey has become a favorite method for preparing the holiday bird in recent years. No matter how the meal is prepared, it will certainly generate fats, oils and grease, or FOG. A high-fat diet of grease and oil can be fatal to sewer systems.

“It’s very important that these bi-products of the holiday meal not be poured down the drain,” says David Pedersen, IRWD Executive Director of Operations. “Grease solidifies in pipes and is the main cause of sewer spills over the holidays.”

When oil and grease is poured down the drain, it sticks to pipes, and can cause sewer clogs. Worst case scenario, raw sewage could back up into your home. Dousing greasy dishes in soapy water doesn't eradicate the problem - dishwashing liquid only breaks the grease down into smaller particles; it doesn't "dissolve" it.

Here are some tips on how to dispose of fats, oils and grease and prevent costly repairs and spills:

• Place left over grease into containers with lids, such as jars, and place into a trash receptacle for pick up on trash day.
• Mix oils with absorbent materials, such as coffee grounds, put in a lidded container and dispose with the trash.
• If cleaning a greasy pan, pour grease into a container and wipe excess grease from the pan with paper towels. Place the towels into the trash.
• If using a deep fat fryer, mix oils with absorbent material, such as cat litter, or soak up excess oil with newspaper and put into the trash.
• If you live in an apartment building or condominium complex, ask your manager if the complex has a grease trap or grease interceptor and encourage them to maintain it properly. Do your part to keep grease out of the complex's sewer lines.

For more information about the FOG program, please visit our website.

Water moving by gravity through pipes in the Irvine Ranch Water District distribution system creates water pressure. Because elevations within the IRWD service area range from sea level to 1,700 feet, the water system is engineered to provide a normal water pressure range of 50-100 pounds per square inch to homes and businesses in most areas.

“The water pressure at your home depends on the elevation of your home and its proximity to the nearest reservoir,” says Dave Pedersen, IRWD Executive Director of Operations.

Certain events such as a pipeline break, fire, or local construction activity can cause low water pressure in the system. If, however, you have been experiencing low water pressure in your home for a prolonged period of time, it may be the result of a problem at your residence.

In some areas of the District, pressure regulators were installed on homes in compliance with local building codes. These areas typically experience high water pressure. The regulators provide protection for household plumbing fixtures that can be sensitive to high water pressure.

The pressure regulator is a bell-shaped device and is typically installed on the inlet pipe, next to the hose bib and house valve. The regulators are preset by the manufacturer at about 80 psi. In most cases, they do not need to be adjusted. Incorrectly adjusting the regulator could cause water pressure that is too low or too high inside the home.

IRWD cannot make repairs or adjust pressure regulators because they are considered part of a homeowner’s private water system. Only a qualified plumber should make these adjustments.

Maintaining the correct water pressure throughout the system keeps the water supply safe. Any severe or prolonged drop in water pressure should be reported immediately to IRWD’s 24-hour service number: (949) 453-5300. Please check out our website for more information.

Contact: Shannon Reed, Public Affairs Manager
reeds@irwd.com, (949) 453-5500

If there is another possible use for recycled water, Irvine Ranch Water District employee Greg Herr will find a way to make it happen. For many of his 25 years at the District, Herr has worked to locate and convert areas not served with recycled water.

“I enjoy finding unique uses for recycled water,” Herr said. “It’s a very important resource.”

Three years ago, Herr was the project manager for converting Robertson’s Ready Mix Concrete in Irvine to recycled water use in concrete batch mixing. Industrial use of recycled water costs 40 percent less than domestic water, significantly reducing operations costs for customers. The plant uses approximately 20,000 gallons of water per day to process concrete.

Converting Robertson’s was the first such use for recycled water in Orange County.

Herr oversaw conversion of a portion of the Irvine Lake pipeline that serves 10 agricultural customers to recycled water for irrigation last year. This culminated more than two years of research and cooperation between the impacted customers, many departments within IRWD, and outside regulatory agencies to implement the project.

Up until that time, those customers were using water from Irvine Lake, which is supplied with untreated water purchased from Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, as well as native runoff water.

Herr is currently working to combine recycled water from the same meter to serve both irrigation and air conditioning cooling towers.

Herr began his IRWD duties in 1987 in the warehouse, where he spent two years before moving to the recycled water team.

 A few years later, he moved into planning and spent 10 years ensuring that IRWD engineering projects conform to the California Environmental Quality Act.

“But I never lost my interest in working on recycled water projects,” he said. “So in 2004, I transitioned back into working with the guys I enjoy so much and along-side the On-Site Group.”

It’s the creative work of promoting recycled water use that Greg enjoys so much.

During his IRWD tenure, he returned to school and received his bachelor’s degree in sociology and master’s degree in policy and planning. He also holds certificates in cross-connection and Distribution Grade II.

IRWD began researching and working toward recycled water for indoor use in high-rise buildings in 1987. The first indoor use for recycled water use was in October 1990, when a restroom building located in a park in the Woodbridge neighborhood of Irvine was converted for toilet flushing.

The following year, the first high-rise to convert to recycled water use for toilet flushing was the 20-story 3 Park Plaza in Jamboree Center in Irvine.