IRWD Asks Customers to Voluntarily Reduce Water Use by 20 Percent
In response to statewide drought declaration by Governor Brown, the Irvine Ranch Water District Board of Directors has adopted a resolution asking all IRWD customers to voluntarily reduce their water use by 20%. This voluntary conservation effort will help reduce demand on current statewide water supplies and extend water reserves if the drought continues for an extended period.
“It is important for all Californians to reduce their water use,” said Steve LaMar, President of the IRWD Board of Directors, “While the Southern California region has made substantial infrastructure investments, it is still important that we all do our part to save water. Together we can make a difference.”
For over twenty years, IRWD has made water use efficiency a top priority through the implementation of water efficient practices and programs and the development of alternative water supply resources such as recycled water. The District offers financial incentives to customers to encourage the installation of high efficiency clothes washers and toilets, and turf replacement and continues to engage customers in innovative and creative ways to conserve water through customer communication programs.
IRWD has also made investments which have reduced its reliance on imported water from 62% in 1990 to 22% in 2013, expanded the use of recycled water, increased storage, and invested in water conservation. These investments have not only reduced long-term costs to IRWD’s rate-payers, but have also provided increased water supply reliability for IRWD customers.
While the average daily water use for an IRWD residential customer has fallen from 170 gallons per day in 1991 to approximately 86 gallons per day in 2014, there are still a few things customers can do to save water:
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How Much Can You Save? |
Estimated Water Savings |
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Water only when necessary |
1,100 gallons per irrigation cycle |
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Water before 8am |
25 gallons per day |
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Check for sprinkler leaks, overspray & broken sprinkler heads |
500 gallons per month |
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Use a water saving hose nozzle |
Up to 7,500 gallons per year |
|
Use a broom, not a hose to clean driveways and sidewalks |
Up to 150 gallons each time |
|
Install a smart sprinkler irrigation controller (rebate available) |
Up to 40 gallons per irrigation cycle |
|
Place organic mulch in your garden |
Hundreds of gallons per year |
|
Replace thirsty plants with California Friendly plants (rebate available) |
Hundreds of gallons per year |
For more water saving tips and ways to save water and money please visit the IRWD website water savings portal at: http://www.irwd.com/save-water-money.
To learn more about IRWD’s new outside water savings center please visit http://www.irwd.com/CALscape
Up to date information on the California drought can be found at http://www.saveourh2o.org/
Four Science Fair Winners Selected by Irvine Ranch Water District
Four Irvine Unified School District students had their water-related science fair projects selected for honors by Irvine Ranch Water District. The projects were selected during the school district’s annual science fair on February 25.
The students will be honored at the May 27 IRWD Board of Directors meeting. IRWD Water Quality professionals have participated in the school’s science fair since its inception the 1990s. Judging this year were Melinda Bergen, a supervisor in the chemistry section of the IRWD Water Quality Laboratory, and Michele Drzymkowski, Laboratory Quality Assurance/Quality Control.
Students whose projects were selected are:
- Morgan Bibee, grade 10, Woodbridge High School, “Effectiveness of a Coil-Based Water Heating System Through its Ability to Transfer Thermal Energy, Versus a Traditional Water Heating System”
- Sandeep Kambhampati, Grade 9, University high School, “A Novel DNA Electrochemical Biosensor for Detection of Pollution in Water”
- Mary King, grade 6, Canyon View School, “Colored Water: Pet’s Preference”
- Alec Isaacman, grade 6, Stone Creek School, “Osmotic Power”
For more information on the IRWD educational programs, please visit our website.
IRWD Looking for Water Sleuths!
Has your water bill gone through the roof and you have no idea why? Chances are you have a leak. A big culprit is your sprinkler system – 20 percent of a household’s water use is wasted on overwatering and sprinkler over-spray.
Irvine Ranch Water District is hosting a contest for sprinkler leak detectives in honor of Fix a Leak Week March 17-23. Throughout the month of March, submit a photo or short video that showcases your detective skills in leak spotting and we will mail you an IRWD CALscape kit, which includes a water-efficient hose nozzle, rain gauge, garden hose repair kit and moisture meter (while supplies last).
All participants will be entered into a drawing to win a gift card to one of our WaterSense partners: Home Depot or Lowe’s. First prize is valued at $500, second prize at $200 and third prize at $100.
Drop by our offices at 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue in Irvine through March 30 to pick up a sprinkler key to help reduce overspray from sprinklers, while supplies last.
For more information and resources on how to be a “Leak Detective,” visit our website.
Fix a Leak Week is sponsored in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program.
IRWD Water Recycling Plant Nears Completion
All five members of the Irvine Ranch Water District Board of Directors and senior staff members toured the Michelson Water Recycling Plant last week. The $100 million expansion of MWRP began in the fall of 2009 and is slated for completion in May.
The plant upgrade will increase the plant’s capacity to treat up to 28 million gallons of wastewater per day. The tertiary treated water is used for landscape and agricultural irrigation, toilet flushing in commercial buildings, air conditioning cooling towers and various industrial uses.
Included in the expansion is construction of new headworks facility, a high-rate clarifier, electrical and blower buildings, ultraviolet disinfection facility, membrane bioreactor facility and modification to the influent trunk sewer lines.
The board and staff members visited the new facilities and were given a primer on how each works. They were even paid a visit by Gina, an owl used to deter crows from perching on the membrane bioreactor . Gina not only helps to keep the facility clean, she is a star in her own right – you might have seen her on a Geico commercial.
Principal Engineer Steve Malloy, project manager for the expansion, conducted the tour, assisted by Plant Manager Gaspar Garza and Randy Lee, assistant director for recycling operations.
More information about the MWRP expansion project is available on our website.
IRWD Customers Rewarded for Water Conservation Efforts
The Irvine Ranch Water District budget based rate structure adopted in 1991 was designed to achieve the dual objectives of promoting water conservation while maintaining revenue stability. It is a foundational tool in IRWD’s successful water efficiency program and has resulted in significant water use reductions. Since 1991 the average daily water use for an IRWD residential customer has fallen from 170 gallons per day to approximately 86 gallons per day in 2014 and customers continue to be rewarded with the one of the lowest rates in Orange County.
At IRWD, the cost of water supplied to customers is based on the actual quantity of water used and the cost to IRWD to purchase these water supplies. Customers who use less water are rewarded with lower rates because IRWD can utilize low cost local sources of water. Customers who use more water have higher bills because of the need for IRWD to purchase more expensive imported water. Each customer pays their fair share, no more or no less.
IRWD assesses a monthly fixed charge based upon meter size. This fixed charge provides adequate funding for all fixed operating costs other than the water commodity itself and the District’s water use efficiency and related programs. Debt service payments are paid from sources related to capital development. As such, IRWD enjoys revenue stability and our ability to make debt service payments is not impacted regardless of the amount of water sold or the degree of conservation experienced from customers’ water use efficiency practices.
Lastly, imported water is IRWD’s most expensive source of supply. IRWD has made significant investments in water conservation, recycled water, and other water supply reliability projects, which have reduced imported water from 62% to a low of 23% percent in 2014. This reduction in the District’s dependence on imported water helps keep water rates low.
For more information on IRWD’s successful water conservation program, please visit http://www.irwd.com
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Related Information:
Background: IRWD Asks Customers to Voluntarily Reduce Water Use by 20 Percent
In response to a statewide drought declaration by Governor Brown, the Irvine Ranch Water District Board of Directors adopted a resolution asking all IRWD customers to voluntarily reduce their water use by 20%. This voluntary conservation effort will help reduce demand on current statewide water supplies and extend water reserves if the drought continues for an extended period.
