UCI and IRWD Partner on Recycled Water Conversion Project
UCI to dramatically increase its use of recycled water
Campus partners with Irvine Ranch Water District to convert central cooling plant
Aiming to greatly expand its use of recycled water, the University of California, Irvine is partnering with the Irvine Ranch Water District to convert the school’s central cooling plant to an environmentally friendly system that will conserve more than 50 million gallons of drinkable water per year.
The central cooling plant is the hub of the air conditioning systems for 65 buildings at UCI. Recycled water will replace the potable water used in its 4.5 million-gallon evaporative cooling tower, which utilizes a process that drops water through the air to lower its temperature to 39 degrees Fahrenheit. This chilled water is pumped throughout campus in a closed-loop circulation system to cool various structures, thereby reducing the amount of electricity that would otherwise be needed for air conditioning.
“Recycled water is a key component of the IRWD’s water portfolio. It helps ensure water supply reliability and promotes water resource sustainability,” said Douglas Reinhart, president of the IRWD board of directors. “We are pleased to partner with UCI on this groundbreaking project.”
Wendell Brase, associate chancellor for sustainability at UCI, said: “We’re always looking for ways to strengthen the university’s longstanding commitment to environmental stewardship. This opportunity is a huge step toward our campus goal of reducing the amount of potable water used on campus, and we are pleased to have such a forward-looking partner in the IRWD.”
Once the project is completed, UCI will have slashed its per capita water consumption by 42 percent since 2007. This puts it well ahead of the University of California’s policy goal of cutting water usage by 36 percent by 2025.
Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin this summer and wrap up in early 2018, said Richard Demerjian, chair of UCI’s Water Resources Working Group and assistant vice chancellor for environmental planning and sustainability. When finished, the conversion will save enough drinking water to supply 300 households a year.
The water district and university are both longtime conservation pioneers. The IRWD is known for its innovative programs to reduce water use. UCI is at the forefront of environmental research and is the only campus in the nation to make Sierra magazine’s annual list of the top 10 “Cool Schools” seven years in a row.
The cooling tower conversion is the latest in a series of collaborations between UCI and the IRWD that began with the new campus opting in 1965 to use recycled water for landscaping. UCI currently employs recycled water for nearly all landscape irrigation and has implemented a number of measures – including plumbing fixture retrofits – to save drinking water in student housing, classroom buildings and laboratories.
About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu.
About the Irvine Ranch Water District: The IRWD is the largest water district in Orange County, California. Established in 1961, it provides high-quality drinking water, reliable sewage collection and treatment, groundbreaking recycled water programs and environmentally sound urban runoff treatment for more than 390,000 residents. As an independent, not-for-profit public agency, the IRWD is governed by a five-member, publicly elected board of directors. To learn more, visit http://www.irwd.com.
Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists.
Contact: Tom Vasich, UCI, 949-824-6455, tmvasich@uci.edu
Contact: Beth Beeman, IRWD, 949-453-5500, info@irwd.com
IRWD Marks 50 Years of Recycled Water
IRWD Recycled Water.
Experienced. Reliable. Innovative.
When it comes to recycled water, IRWD knows its stuff. Five decades of experience combined with a never-ending commitment to improving its technologies and processes have put IRWD at the forefront of the recycled water movement.
While previous investments in recycled water infrastructure have allowed IRWD to grow into one of the most reliable water systems in California, the District is not content to rest on its past achievements. Instead, IRWD's team of water professionals is constantly looking toward the future to find new and better ways to provide its customers with a cost-effective and sustainable recycled water supply.
50 Years of Recycled Water
Irvine Ranch Water District’s foray into the recycled water business began in 1967 when the new Michelson Water Recycling Plant went online. Since those early days, IRWD has gained a reputation as a leader in the recycled water industry — pioneering the use of purple piping, which has become the international symbol for recycled water. IRWD recycled water is used primarily for outdoor watering. It is not for drinking. But every gallon of recycled water saves a gallon of drinking water.
MWRP’s initial capacity was two million gallons per day (MGD), with the finished product served mostly to agricultural customers. The plant has undergone many expansions over the years to accommodate the growth of the area. The last expansion brought MWRP’s capacity up from 18 MGD to 28 MGD. At final build-out, MWRP will be expanded to treat 33 MGD.
Since the IRWD philosophy maintains that water is too valuable to be used only once, recycled water accounts for more than a quarter of our service area’s demands. More than 500 miles of pipe deliver this highly treated product to more than 4,000 customers.
In 1991, IRWD was the first water district in California granted an unrestricted use permit for its high-quality recycled water. This permit allowed the water to be used for the first time inside commercial buildings for toilet flushing. Two high-rises at Jamboree Center became the first two buildings constructed with a dual plumbing system – one of which carries recycled water to restrooms.
IRWD now has 78 buildings in its service area using recycled water indoors. That number is expected to increase to 100 by 2018.
Recycled water is used for irrigation of parks, common areas, school ball fields, golf courses, street medians, greenbelts and agricultural crops.
The IRWD recycled water team constantly researches innovative uses for recycled water. Some of the uses put into effect over the years include air conditioning cooling towers, concrete mixing, and carpet dyeing. Two years ago, IRWD began offering free recycled water to residential customers at its Residential Recycled Water Filling Station.
Moving Toward a New, More Sustainable Future
In recent years, IRWD has begun focusing on cutting-edge sustainability initiatives that go beyond traditional recycled water programs. In doing so, IRWD aims to become much more than just a recycled water leader, with its sights ultimately set on evolving into a regional sustainability leader whose projects and facilities span both the water and energy sectors. To accomplish this goal, IRWD is taking a multi-pronged approach to expanding its sustainability capabilities. This approach involves constructing new energy-efficient facilities, partnering with innovative energy-sector leaders to build dynamic energy storage facilities and investing in alternative water supply programs that supplement the District's existing water suppy, especially during times of drought.
Be on the lookout for upcoming Liquid News articles that will highlight some of IRWD's current ventures into the world of water and energy sustainability. Topics will include:
- Biosolids & Energy Recovery Facility - IRWD's high-tech plant that builds upon the District's highly sucessful recycled water program
- Energy Storage Program - IRWD has teamed up with a leading clean-tech energy storage company to install the largest network of energy storage systems at a public water agency in the United States
- Water Banking Operations - Water Banking provides an important tool to augment imported water reliability and safeguard IRWD customers from imported water shortages
April is California Earthquake Preparedness Month
California is earthquake country and April has been designated as California Earthquake Preparedness Month. We encourage our customers to always be prepared and they can be assured that Irvine Ranch Water District practices this message. Crews are ready to respond 24-hours a day to emergencies. Here are a few ways that IRWD stays prepared:
- Our personnel engage in periodic emergency drills to better serve customers should a genuine disaster occur. In addition, IRWD has equipment to set up the Emergency Operations Center, which is located at the Michelson Water Recycling Plant.
- IRWD has a 16-foot emergency response trailer to assist crews when they are called out to an event. The hazardous materials trailer is equipped with orange cones, rubber boots and gloves, medical supplies, first aid kits, generators and medical monitoring equipment.
- Two 2,000-gallon potable water trailers may be hauled to where there is an emergency or water outage. The polyurethane tanks are mounted on heavy duty trailer chassis and contain 10 spigots for filling containers from water bottles to buckets and jugs. These trailers act as a stop-gap measure between residents’ own resources, the District’s ability to restore distribution, and the time it takes for outside resources to arrive at the site of a major disaster.
- Four water buffalo trailers that hold 500 gallons of water each are used any time there is a water outage. They are equipped with pumps so they may be hooked up to individual buildings.
- Permanent emergency generators were installed at six booster pump stations in response to the 2007 Santiago Canyon fires. During the fire, power outages were experienced at each site, which maintain water pressure for the canyon areas. Permanent generators will ensure a reliable supply of water during emergencies, such as fires.
CodeRED is a one-stop way to receive emergency notifications
Having an emergency supply kit is an important part of disaster preparedness, but there is another tool that IRWD customers can take advantage of – CodeRED, a high-volume, high-speed system for mass emergency notifications.
Customers who sign up for CodeRED have the option of receiving voice, email, or text messages whenever there is a water-related emergency.
Signing up for CodeRED is simple. Just visit www.irwd.com and click on Emergency & CodeRED. From there, click on CodeRED Community Notification Enrollment Form.
In the meantime, customers should be aware that the first 72 hours following an earthquake are critical, so you should be prepared to be self-sufficient for at least that long. A supply of stored water is the most important survival items. Several gallons of stored water per person can last two weeks.
IRWD Showcase Students Art Works
On the week of March 28-April 4, the lobby of the Irvine Ranch Water District’s Sand Canyon office will be transformed into an art gallery featuring the winning Water Awareness posters of students from all over Southern California.
The display includes the winners of the 2016 Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s poster contest. Among the work on display is the artwork of Melody Yu, who was a third grader at Turtle Rock Elementary School at the time of the contest.
Melody’s artwork and the other 35 winning posters will be displayed in the IRWD lobby and available for public viewing during regular business hours: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The students, their parents and teachers were invited to a ceremony at Metropolitan’s Los Angeles office in December. The winning art work was framed and on display in the building’s rotunda. Winning posters were published in the 2017 Water is Life calendar.
The traveling art show began in January and is making its way around various water agencies all over Southern California. The show will conclude the end of July and the framed artwork returned to the participating agencies.
IRWD has participated in the annual poster contest since its inception more than 20 years ago and has had at least one winner each year. More information about IRWD education programs is available on our website.
IRWD Showcases Student Art Work
On the week of March 28-April 4, the lobby of the Irvine Ranch Water District’s Sand Canyon office will be transformed into an art gallery featuring the winning Water Awareness posters of students from all over Southern California.
The display includes the winners of the 2016 Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s poster contest. Among the work on display is the artwork of Melody Yu, who was a third grader at Turtle Rock Elementary School at the time of the contest.
Melody’s artwork and the other 35 winning posters will be displayed in the IRWD lobby and available for public viewing during regular business hours: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The students, their parents and teachers were invited to a ceremony at Metropolitan’s Los Angeles office in December. The winning art work was framed and on display in the building’s rotunda. Winning posters were published in the 2017 Water is Life calendar.
The traveling art show began in January and is making its way around various water agencies all over Southern California. The show will conclude the end of July and the framed artwork returned to the participating agencies.
IRWD has participated in the annual poster contest since its inception more than 20 years ago and has had at least one winner each year. More information about IRWD education programs is available on our website.
