Published: Aug 23, 2018 | 10:06 AM

Happy to See Green? Thank Our Purple Pipes

Let’s be honest. We love our treelined streets, verdant medians and common areas that define the Irvine Ranch Water District. And while other communities are cutting back on their landscaping, ours continues to flourish.

Since 1963, IRWD has been implementing a vision to integrate recycled water and purple pipes into the design of our community—and it shows. In 1990, 14% of all water used in the District was recycled. Today, recycled water makes up about 25% of our portfolio. And that’s what we use to water 80% of the public and commercial irrigated landscape in our service area—including parks, medians, golf courses, and community association property.

More Than Just Irrigation

In addition to landscaping, IRWD promotes commercial uses of recycled water. It is used for toilet flushing in more than 90 buildings, in cooling towers, and for industrial applications such as concrete production and composting. Every gallon of recycled water used for these purposes saves a gallon of drinking water.

A National Leader

IRWD owns and operates one of the most robust recycled water systems in the nation, with two water recycling plants, 550 miles of recycled water pipelines, and more than 5,500 metered recycled water connections. Four seasonal-storage reservoirs—Rattlesnake, San Joaquin, Sand Canyon and Syphon—allow the District to store recycled water in the cooler and wetter winter months for use in the summer when demand is highest.

Recycled Water Quality Report

Learn more about the treatment and testing of IRWD recycled water in the 2018 Recycled Water Quality Report. Visit irwd.com/services/recycled-water.