Sign Up Now for 2019 Water Tours
Curious where your drinking water comes from and what happens to it after it disappears down the drain? Get answers to these questions and more during one of our free spring resident tours: April 12, April 13 and May 4. Learn about the journey your drinking water takes, the water recycling process, water conservation, and IRWD’s environmental stewardship. Meet other IRWD customers while enjoying walking tours of the innovative Michelson Water Recycling Plant and the beautiful San Joaquin Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. Ride by bus to the San Joaquin Reservoir. The day is capped with lunch and a discussion about water conservation. Sign up at irwd.com/learning/request-a-resident-tour.
Love Your Water District: the 411
What is Irvine Ranch Water District and what do we do? Here is a primer:
- We are a California special district—an independent, not-for-profit government agency—responsible for providing highquality drinking water, sewage collection and recycled water.
- We serve all of Irvine, parts of Tustin, Lake Forest, Newport Beach, Orange and Costa Mesa, and some unincorporated areas of Orange County.
- You can contact us for information about your water or sewer service, apply for our rebates on waterconservation products, attend our landscaping workshops or water-awareness tours, and invite us to your home or business to assess how you can save water. • Learn more at irwd.com/about-us.
Our names sound similar, but IRWD is separate from the City of Irvine and the Irvine Company.
- The City of Irvine provides essential services associated with public safety, land use, street maintenance, parks, recreation, senior services, library services, economic development, animal control, and more. Visit cityofirvine.org.
- The Irvine Company is a privately held real-estate investment company credited with creating and implementing the unique vision behind Irvine’s master-planned communities. Visit irvinecompany.com/about/
What a Water Year It Was
IRWD works hard to see that our customers get the best in drinking water, recycled water and sewer services. To that end, we seek out innovative and cost-effective ways to improve on what we do. Here are some of the District’s top accomplishments for 2018.
Drinking water: We secured a $67.5 million grant from the California Water Commission to enhance water banking projects in Kern County, which serve as emergency water supplies for our customers.
Recycled water: We provided recycled water to irrigate public landscape, saving more than 10 billion gallons of drinking water. We helped U.C. Irvine convert campus cooling towers to recycled water, which will save 80 million gallons of drinking water per year. We achieved our milestone 100th dual-plumbed commercial building, in which toilets are flushed with recycled water.
Water education: More than 6,000 elementary and middle-school students participated in water-related assemblies, programs and field trips sponsored by IRWD with Discovery Cube and Sea & Sage Audubon.
Sustainability: We installed a network of high-efficiency Tesla batteries at District facilities to reduce energy costs by $500,000 a year.
What’s on tap for 2019? Major initiatives include programs to secure water supplies and expand sewage treatment capacity—plus ongoing implementation of water education and water efficiency programs.
Recycled Water, Green Communities
This is drought country. So how do we keep your faucets flowing while keeping the community so green and beautiful? In a fast-paced new video, real IRWD employees take you behind the scenes—showing how they transform your used water into recycled water for landscape irrigation and other surprising uses. Watch at irwd.com/services/recycled-water.
2019 Water Efficiency Challenge
The New Year is a time of renewal and reflection. For 2019, the IRWD Water Efficiency team encourages you to learn new ways to save. Here are a few of their ideas.
Amy McNulty, WE manager: Run an irrigation system check in your yard. Turn on all sprinkler stations to make sure the system is operating properly and that no irrigation lines or sprinklers are broken.
Melody Seesangrit, WE specialist: When shopping for toilets, showerheads, bathroom faucets, irrigation controllers, or spray sprinkler bodies, look for the WaterSense label. WaterSense-labeled products are backed by independent, third-party certification, and meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s specifications for water efficiency and performance.
Luis Genis, WE specialist: Find the master shut-off valve for your home. Getting to it quickly will prevent damage and save water in an emergency.
Nola Hastings, WE supervisor: Go outside and get to know the plants in your garden so you can water them appropriately. In Southern California, about 50% of our water use is outdoors. Often we water too much.
Joey Baquerizo, WE specialist: Are your neighbors giving you the stink eye because your sprinklers are overspraying, watering the cement, or too old to be adjusted? Then change those old, inefficient sprinkler heads! You might qualify for a rebate. Check our list of rebate-eligible rotating spray nozzles, RightScapeNow.com/rebates/residential-rebates.
Michael Le, WE specialist: Collect a full load of laundry before washing your clothes. Save water and energy!
Allan Pascual, senior WE specialist: Find a car wash with a reclaimed-water system. (Some advertise on their signs, online, or in local papers.) Such car washes capture the final cycle of water, process it, treat it, and reuse it. A normal car wash requires about 50 gallons of fresh water, but a good reclaimedwater system can cut that to 10, with 40 gallons of reused water.
