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Conservation
Water Conservation Research - Residential
Studies
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Click
here to view the Quarterly/Final Status Report of the
"Central Orange County Turf Replacement Project,"
a collaborative effort by IRWD and the Cities of Irvine, Lake
Forest, Newport Beach and Tustin. This demonstration project,
begun Fall 2005 and completed Spring 2006, replaced select
plots of live grass with synthetic turf. In addition to the
water savings resulting from these installations, the demonstration
sites require no fertilizers, no pesticides and no mowing,
while cutting down on the amount of green waste, like grass
clippings, going into landfills. Public response to the demonstration
sites in each city has been favorable. |
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Click here to access
the final Executive Summary of the "Residential
Runoff Reduction (R3)Study." This research project,
begun in Fall 2001 and concluded in 2003, resulted in an average
annual water savings of 10% for those study participants using
"smart" weather-based controllers to schedule and
regulate their landscape irrigation systems. To view the entire
R3 Study report click here. To view or print individual
sections of the R3 Study report, click here. |
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"Is System Pressure Reduction a Valuable Water
Conservation Tool?"
According to the results of this 2003 study of IRWD residential
customers, reducing system pressure can measurably reduce
the amount of water used for residential landscape irrigation,
without increasing customer complaints. To
view report, click here. |
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Initial IRWD Study of Weather-Based
Irrigation Controllers
Beginning mid-1998 and continuing through Fall 2000, IRWD,
the Municipal Water District of Orange County and the Metropolitan
Water District of Southern California conducted a study of
the effectiveness of weather-based remote-controlled residential
irrigation technology. The irrigation controllers employed
in the study, known as ET controllers, were designed to receive
weekly weather updates and automatically adjust irrigation
times to meet plant needs.
ET refers to evapotranspiration, the rate at which plants
lose water through evaporation and transpiration. Not only
did the ET controller technology apply the "correct"
amount of water to each home's landscaping, it also eliminated
the need for complicated programming of the sprinkler clock
by homeowners.
For a detailed technical account of this study, access the
full report for the
Residential Weather-Based Irrigation Scheduling: the Irvine
"ET Controller" Study (53 pages). For an overview
of this study, access the Executive Summary
of the Residential
Weather-Based Irrigation Scheduling: the Irvine "ET Controller"
Study (4 pages) and ET
Controller Savings Through the Second Post-Retrofit Year:
A Brief Update (5 pages). |
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Water Conservation
Research - Landscape/Agricultural Studies
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"Commercial ET-Based Irrigation Controller Water
Savings Study"
This September 2006 report estimates that commercial customers who
installed ET controllers saved 601 gallons per day on average over
a five-year post-installation period. Moreover, water savings observed
in the first year tended to persist with no observable decrease
in water savings over the five-year post-installation period. This
study was made possible through funding provided by the Irvine Ranch
Water District and the U. S. Department of the Interior's Bureau
of Reclamation. Click
here to view the final report. |
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Click
here to view the Quarterly/Final Status Report of the
"Central Orange County Turf Replacement Project,"
a collaborative effort by IRWD and the Cities of Irvine, Lake Forest,
Newport Beach and Tustin. This demonstration project, begun Fall
2005 and completed Spring 2006, replaced select plots of live grass
with synthetic turf. In addition to the water savings resulting
from these installations, the demonstration sites require no fertilizers,
no pesticides and no mowing, while cutting down on the amount of
green waste, like grass clippings, going into landfills. Public
response to the demonstration sites in each city has been favorable. |
| |
|
|
Click here to access
the final Executive Summary of the "Residential
Runoff Reduction (R3)Study." This research project,
begun in Fall 2001 and concluded in 2003, resulted in an average
annual water savings of 10% for those study participants using "smart"
weather-based controllers to schedule and regulate their landscape
irrigation systems. To view the entire
R3 Study report click here. To view or print individual
sections of the R3 Study report, click here.
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Wick Irrigation Technology Shows Promise
IRWD is testing an experimental irrigation system, called "Wick."
Preliminary results of this system show a definite reduction in
run-off. The study will continue for a year to determine Wick’s
effectiveness throughout all four seasons of the growing cycle.
To view
a PowerPoint presentation (pdf) detailing this study, click here.
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Reducing Potable Water Demand on Agricultural Crops:
Recycled Water for Strawberry Production
IRWD is currently studying how recycled water affects the growth,
flowering and fruit quality of strawberries, a crop considered to
be salt-sensitive. If the strawberry production is acceptable to
the farmers, using recycled water on strawberries could save approximately
three acre-feet of potable water per acre of strawberries in production.
To date, the strawberries receiving recycled water have shown no
reduction in size or quality. There are now 835 acres of strawberries,
including some avocado groves, being irrigated with recycled water
within IRWD's service area. |
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Water Conservation
Research - Commericial/Industrial/Institutional Studies
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"Converting X-Ray Machines from Water Pass-Through
to Re-Circulating"
IRWD study finds new water re-circulation technology improves x-ray
film processor water-use efficiency by 98 percent. Click
here to view entire report. |
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"Demonstration of Water Conservation Opportunities
in Urban Supermarkets"
A supermarket in the IRWD service area participated in a study,
published September 2003, which investigated the potential water
savings of advanced water treatment on typical urban supermarket
cooling systems. The goal of the study was to quantify the water
savings potential and the economic feasability of advanced water
treatment in cooling systems, and to look for water saving opportunities
in other water uses typically found in supermarkets. Click
here to view an executive summary of this study. |
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