The IRWD Energy Storage Project was recently selected as a winner at the 6th Annual Golden Hub of Innovation Awards by the Association of California Cities - Orange County (ACC-OC).

The Golden Hub of Innovation Awards recognizes local agencies, cities and individuals that successfully implement programs and policies that save taxpayer dollars and improve services for local residents.

IRWD won the award for its Energy Storage Project, a public-private partnership with Advanced Microgrid Solutions to install the largest network of energy storage systems at a public water agency in the United States. The cutting-edge grid support project will enable IRWD to store energy using Tesla batteries, allowing it to reduce demand from the grid when requested by the utility without interrupting water treatment operations and reducing the need for additional supply from fossil fuel generation in a region challenged by the closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

For more information about IRWD's Energy Storage Project, go here.

For more information about ACC-OC, go here.

Delivery of Tesla battery storage units at IRWD DATS facility

New Tesla battery storage units at IRWD DATS facility

Inspecting newly installed Tesla battery storage units

When it comes to delivering safe water to our customers, the bottom line is that Irvine Ranch Water District meets or exceeds all state and federal guidelines for drinking water.

Ensuring that quality on a day-to-day basis is the primary responsibility of seven dedicated members of the IRWD Regulatory Compliance Monitoring team who fan out into the community, gathering water samples from one or more of the approximately 200 drinking water sampling sites located in the District. 

“Typically, Mondays and Tuesdays are set aside for sampling potable (drinking) water,” said IRWD Senior Scientist John Hayes.

Results of potable water sampling are compiled in the annual Water Quality Report, which is sent out to customers and available on our website.

The sampling sites are located throughout the community. Quite possibly, you might have noticed these sampling cans and wondered what they were, or you might not have noticed them at all. They are designed to pleasantly blend in with the landscape.

Each sampling site chosen represents a portion of the IRWD service area, with accessibility and safety to the field crews in mind. Sampling cans are all painted the same color of light brown with a slight difference – potable water samplings cans have blue decals, while recycled water sampling cans have purple decals. Each can contains a lock that may only be opened by a member of the monitoring team.

Water from IRWD drinking water tank reservoirs and all of the IRWD drinking water wells are also sampled and tested weekly.

Non-Drinking Water Monitoring

In addition to potable water, samples are collected from the San Joaquin Marsh and 11 other Natural Treatment System sites, from Irvine Lake, recycled water reservoirs, and both of the District’s water recycling plants, as well as 26 recycled water distribution system sample sites.

Twice a month, monitoring crews take samples from Irvine Lake, which is the source of raw water treated at the new Baker Water Treatment Plant and also used for some crop irrigation in the IRWD service area. Water in Irvine Lake comes from Lake Matthews in Riverside County. Fine-meshed nets are used to monitor quagga mussel larvae. Quagga Mussels are an invasive species, which multiply at a rapid rate and can clog water delivery pipes. In addition, the lake is monitored for dissolved metals at different depths.

Protecting the Environment

The Water Quality Monitoring Team also plays a key role in IRWD environmental stewardship, with five members of the team overseeing certain responsibilities:

• Industrial waste – the IRWD service area has many industrial-related businesses. IRWD conducts pre-treatment inspections of businesses to ensure no industrial waste is dumped into the sewer system, which could cause upsets in the District’s two wastewater treatment plants.
• Underground storage tank program – IRWD has tanks that provide diesel and gasoline to operate the District’s extensive fleet. These tanks are inspected weekly to ensure there are no leaks.
• Above ground storage tanks containing petroleum-related chemicals at various sites are inventoried once a year and inspected once a week for leaks.
• Hazardous waste program – used motor oil and filters, anti-freeze and paint are stored until they are properly disposed of. The county conducts an annual inspection of the storage site.
• Universal waste – light tubes, circuit boards and batteries and any other “e-waste” is collected and properly disposed of.

More information about water quality is available at our website.

You say you missed the last RightScape workshop? Never fear, more have been scheduled!

These informative workshops will help you learn about the right plants, the right equipment and the right schedule to get you on the road to saving water and having a beautiful landscape.

The next Soil, Water and Plant Relationships workshop is scheduled for this Wednesday, May 10, 6-8:30 p.m. at the Irvine Ranch Water District headquarters office, 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue. Learn about building up your soil, composting, plant development, and proper watering.

Saturday, May 13, award-winning California native landscape designer Rob Moore will be featured at IRWD from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Learn how to landscape using California native plants. Learn about native plant communities, proper planting techniques, pruning, watering and overall care.

The Thursday, June 15 Turf Be Gone workshop will be held at IRWD, 6-8:30 p.m.

The OC Master Gardeners Composting Workshops and the Garden Design: From Concept to Finish will be held at the South Coast Research and Extension Center, 7601 Irvine Boulevard, Irvine.

OC Master Gardeners Composting Workshops – Wednesday May 24 or Wednesday, June 21, 3-5 p.m. Learn about traditional composting and vermicomposting (using worms). Event will be held outside in the composting demonstration area. Enter drawings for a chance to win a kitchen counter composter, compost turner, and a large outdoor composting bin.

Three-part garden design series is free and open to the public. Each class builds in the preceding one to provide a deeper understanding of garden design. The workshop series is limited to 24 participants per class. Participants must attend all three workshops:

• Garden Design Basics, Saturday, June 3, 9-11 a.m.
• Efficient Irrigation, Saturday, June 10, 9-11 a.m.
• Putting it all Together, Saturday, June 24, 9-11 a.m.

Signups are required for all workshops at rightscapenow.com/events.

Thinking of removing your water-thirsty grass and replacing it with water-friendly plants? Look no further than the IRWD Turnkey Turf Removal Program, which simplifies the process.

Residential customers can relax and leave it to IRWD’s drought-tolerant landscape expert, WaterWise Consulting, Inc. (WWC), which manages the project from start to finish.

The first step toward a water-wise yard is a meeting with WWC’s landscape design consultant to discuss vision and goals for the project. Once the design is finalized, a project team will remove existing grass, install new drought-friendly plants and convert the irrigation system to drip irrigation.

Eligible residential customers can receive a rebate up to $2,000 per site for turf removed. Sites must have a minimum of 500 square feet of grass removed to qualify for the Turnkey Turf program. If your site has less than this, check out the Do-It-Yourself program at rightscapenow.com/turf-removal/diy-turf-removal.

Program participants are responsible for obtaining any required design approvals from their homeowners association. Program details on available on our website.