IRWD Data Drives Smart Sprinklers
Changes in the weather say a lot about your landscape’s water needs. That’s why IRWD operates three weather stations—in the coastal, central and foothill regions—to continually monitor site-specific data such as temperature, solar radiation, wind and humidity. The information gathered is used to calculate the amount of water landscape needs to thrive in its specific climate zone.
IRWD recently moved its central weather station to a facility operated by the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. As a part of our partnership, IRWD renovated the nearby UC ANR station, which is part of the California Irrigation Management Information System network of over 145 weather stations statewide. Having the two stations almost sideby-side helps researchers compare data for optimal accuracy.
If you have a smart controller at your home, it uses live or historical weather data to manage watering times and frequency. Your controller receives data from an on-site sensor or a signal from a local weather station. By automatically shutting off on cold and rainy days, it can cut water use 15-30%.
Working together, IRWD and UC ANR put on workshops and events throughout the year, helping residents adopt water-efficient and sustainable practices for their gardens.
To learn more about weather data, visit RightScapeNow.com/landscape-resources/et-weather-center. If you don’t have a weather-based irrigation controller, we might have a rebate to help you buy one. Find out at RightScapeNow.com/rebates.
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.
