The holiday season can be a frenzied time. While you’re running here and there all around the square, make sure your faucets aren’t running too. Practice these holiday water habits:

Entertain efficiently. Defrost frozen foods in the fridge overnight instead of thawing them out in tap water. Wash vegetables in a large bowl of water rather than running the faucet—then reuse the water in your garden.

Be mindful after mealtime. Scrape dirty dishes clean and dump the scrapings in the trash instead of rinsing the dishes with water. Remember not to pour fats, oils or grease down the drain. To reduce loads in the dishwasher, be sure to fi ll it up and use water-saving settings if available.

Sing in the shower. Singing is good for the soul—and can help you reduce your shower time. Aim to sing just one carol while you’re lathering—then zip out when your song is through. A few suggestions to get you in the spirit: “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (Mariah Carey), “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” (*NSYNC), “Frosty the Snowman” (The Ronettes), “Santa Baby” (Eartha Kitt), “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (The Jackson 5), and to inspire the Sierra snowpack this winter, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (Michael Bublé).

Southern California Edison has presented the Irvine Ranch Water District with a $139,047 incentive check for energy savings related to a long-term water recycling project.

General Electric developed a proprietary enhancement for the existing Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) system that was installed at IRWD’s Michelson Water Recycling Plant in 2014.  IRWD installed the next-generation MBR wastewater treatment technology called LEAPmbr, which reduces operational costs.

“It has exceeded original projections of energy savings,” IRWD General Manager Paul Cook said.

The LEAPmbr system provides the lowest lifecycle costs available from any MBR technology, as well as cost savings, and operational simplicity combined with a compact footprint and reinforced hollow-fiber ultrafiltration technologies.

“In simple terms, the technology allows for more efficient cleaning of the membranes, ensuring lower energy usage over time,” SCE account manager James Pasmore said during a check presentation at the Nov. 27 meeting of the IRWD Board of Directors.

Extensive analysis – coordinated between Hao Bui of SCE and Tom Bonkowski and Joe Lam of IRWD – originally estimated that the retrofit would save 666,855 kWh and 125.10 kW yearly. Installation was completed in late April 2017, data was logged during the summer, and final savings numbers exceeded expectations, delivering 843,361kWh and 167kW in verified reductions. Alex Coria, Gaspar Garza and Ricky Ruiz were also part of the project team.

This translates to a 3.5-year return on investment for the customer and represents 628 tons of avoided greenhouse gas emissions.

According to Pasmore, that’s the energy equivalent of:

• 134 passenger vehicles driven for a year.
• 1.5 million miles driven by an average passenger vehicle.
• 70,625 gallons of gasoline consumed.
• 67.8 homes’ energy use for a year.

The holidays are stressful enough, right? Don’t create headaches by clogging your drains or gunking up the sewer system. De-gunking drives up maintenance expenses, costing water customers money that’s better saved for holiday gifts. Stay in the holiday spirt all year long by following these tips from IRWD collection systems manager Dorien McElroy:

Keep grease out of drains. Avoid holiday meal headaches by not pouring cooking grease down the drain. Grease from holiday turkeys, roasts and hams is a leading cause of sewage spills this time of year. Put leftover grease in containers with lids, such as jars, then throw them in the garbage. When cleaning a greasy pan, pour grease into a container, wipe excess grease from the pan with paper towels, and throw the towels away.

Put eggshells in the trash. Eggshells are like calcium. Running them through the garbage disposal in your sink is like dumping sand or rocks in the sewer.

Don’t flush flushables. Despite the unfortunate name, “flushable” wipes are not fl ushable. Good old-fashioned toilet paper is made to disperse and disintegrate as it agitates in water. Flushables are not paper—they are made of plastic that can’t decompose or break into bits. As a result, they get stuck in pipelines and pumping equipment, creating maintenance mayhem.

Throw away sanitary napkins. Paper towels can clog toilet pipes and cause headaches for ratepayers. Same problem with tampons and applicators. Dispose of these items properly, in the garbage can.

Toss the floss. Dental fl oss can clump in the pump. So keep your hygienist and your water worker happy by flossing every day—and then tossing the floss in the trash.

Floods. Wildfires. Earthquakes. They’ve been in the news lately—and Orange County is not immune. IRWD has multiple safeguards to protect the reliability and quality of your drinking water. But in extreme circumstances, it’s smart to be ready for disruptions.

The first 72 hours are critical, so prepare to be self-sufficient at least that long. Here are three ways to be sure water isn’t a worry:

1. Store it. Maintain several gallons per person, stored in clean, non-corrosive, tightly covered containers. Commercially bottled water is one option. Heavy, opaque plastic containers with screw-on lids are best if you bottle your own. Label it clearly and replenish it every six months.

2. Boil it. After a disaster, tap water may be tainted. Boil it for at least fi ve minutes before drinking. If boiling isn’t possible, strain water through paper towels, coffee fi lters or layers of clean cloth to remove sediment. Treat water with household chlorine bleach—eight drops per gallon of clear water, or 16 drops if water is cloudy.

3. Find it. Sources of drinkable water are hidden throughout your home. Melt the ice cubes in your freezer. Drink the liquid from canned fruits and vegetables. Save the water from your water heater. (Cut the power to your water heater, close the supply valve at the top, let the tank cool, turn on any hot water tap in your house to let air fl ow into your tank, then open the faucet at the bottom of the tank to drain water into a clean container.) You can even drink the water in your toilet tank (not the bowl!), unless cleaning chemicals have been added.