April is California Earthquake Preparedness Month
California is earthquake country and April has been designated as California Earthquake Preparedness Month. We encourage our customers to always be prepared and they can be assured that Irvine Ranch Water District practices this message. Crews are ready to respond 24-hours a day to emergencies. Here are a few ways that IRWD stays prepared:
- Our personnel engage in periodic emergency drills to better serve customers should a genuine disaster occur. In addition, IRWD has equipment to set up the Emergency Operations Center, which is located at the Michelson Water Recycling Plant.
- IRWD has a 16-foot emergency response trailer to assist crews when they are called out to an event. The hazardous materials trailer is equipped with orange cones, rubber boots and gloves, medical supplies, first aid kits, generators and medical monitoring equipment.
- Two 2,000-gallon potable water trailers may be hauled to where there is an emergency or water outage. The polyurethane tanks are mounted on heavy duty trailer chassis and contain 10 spigots for filling containers from water bottles to buckets and jugs. These trailers act as a stop-gap measure between residents’ own resources, the District’s ability to restore distribution, and the time it takes for outside resources to arrive at the site of a major disaster.
- Four water buffalo trailers that hold 500 gallons of water each are used any time there is a water outage. They are equipped with pumps so they may be hooked up to individual buildings.
- Permanent emergency generators were installed at six booster pump stations in response to the 2007 Santiago Canyon fires. During the fire, power outages were experienced at each site, which maintain water pressure for the canyon areas. Permanent generators will ensure a reliable supply of water during emergencies, such as fires.
CodeRED is a one-stop way to receive emergency notifications
Having an emergency supply kit is an important part of disaster preparedness, but there is another tool that IRWD customers can take advantage of – CodeRED, a high-volume, high-speed system for mass emergency notifications.
Customers who sign up for CodeRED have the option of receiving voice, email, or text messages whenever there is a water-related emergency.
Signing up for CodeRED is simple. Just visit www.irwd.com and click on Emergency & CodeRED. From there, click on CodeRED Community Notification Enrollment Form.
In the meantime, customers should be aware that the first 72 hours following an earthquake are critical, so you should be prepared to be self-sufficient for at least that long. A supply of stored water is the most important survival items. Several gallons of stored water per person can last two weeks.
IRWD Showcase Students Art Works
On the week of March 28-April 4, the lobby of the Irvine Ranch Water District’s Sand Canyon office will be transformed into an art gallery featuring the winning Water Awareness posters of students from all over Southern California.
The display includes the winners of the 2016 Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s poster contest. Among the work on display is the artwork of Melody Yu, who was a third grader at Turtle Rock Elementary School at the time of the contest.
Melody’s artwork and the other 35 winning posters will be displayed in the IRWD lobby and available for public viewing during regular business hours: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The students, their parents and teachers were invited to a ceremony at Metropolitan’s Los Angeles office in December. The winning art work was framed and on display in the building’s rotunda. Winning posters were published in the 2017 Water is Life calendar.
The traveling art show began in January and is making its way around various water agencies all over Southern California. The show will conclude the end of July and the framed artwork returned to the participating agencies.
IRWD has participated in the annual poster contest since its inception more than 20 years ago and has had at least one winner each year. More information about IRWD education programs is available on our website.
IRWD Showcases Student Art Work
On the week of March 28-April 4, the lobby of the Irvine Ranch Water District’s Sand Canyon office will be transformed into an art gallery featuring the winning Water Awareness posters of students from all over Southern California.
The display includes the winners of the 2016 Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s poster contest. Among the work on display is the artwork of Melody Yu, who was a third grader at Turtle Rock Elementary School at the time of the contest.
Melody’s artwork and the other 35 winning posters will be displayed in the IRWD lobby and available for public viewing during regular business hours: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The students, their parents and teachers were invited to a ceremony at Metropolitan’s Los Angeles office in December. The winning art work was framed and on display in the building’s rotunda. Winning posters were published in the 2017 Water is Life calendar.
The traveling art show began in January and is making its way around various water agencies all over Southern California. The show will conclude the end of July and the framed artwork returned to the participating agencies.
IRWD has participated in the annual poster contest since its inception more than 20 years ago and has had at least one winner each year. More information about IRWD education programs is available on our website.
Time for Spring Planting – We Can Help
If it’s spring, it’s time to think about planting. There is a host of workshops to help you get started.
Have you ever wanted to compost, but weren’t where to begin? Orange County Master Gardeners will teach you traditional composting and vermicomposting (using worms). The event will be held outside in the composting demonstration area of the South Coast Research and Extension Center, 7601 Irvine Boulevard, Irvine. Workshops are limited to 20 participants and held on Wednesdays, March 29 or April 26, 3-5 p.m.
In honor of Earth Day, Plants for the Planet Workshop is scheduled for Thursday, April 13, 6-8 p.m. at the IRWD headquarters office, 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue, Irvine. Select the right plants for your landscape. Experts will discuss California native and non-native drought tolerant species, seasonal water needs, and cultural care tips for these plants.
Signups for the workshops required at rightscapenow.com/events.
Science Fair Projects Chosen for Honors
Four students who participated in the Irvine Unified School District’s science fair on February 28 were selected for honors by Irvine Ranch Water District for their water-related science fair projects.
IRWD has been involved in the science fair since its inception more than 30 years ago. District professionals have assisted, whether it’s advising during Ask-a-Scientist Night, or judging the water-related science fair projects.
Of the several hundred entries, more than 30 were water-related. Some examined various methods of desalination, some examined irrigation controllers and others conducted experiments on removing certain constituents from water.
The students will be honored at the June 12 IRWD Board of Directors meeting. Judging this year were David Cole and Jessica Tron of the IRWD Water Quality Laboratory, assisted by Melinda Bergen, supervisor in the chemistry section of the lab.
Students whose projects were selected are:
- Aurnon Chattopadhay, University High School, “Efficient Removal of Pb, Cd, and Ud from Water”
- Ainesh Arumugan, grade 10, University High School, “Smart Irrigation Controller” (this is Ainesh’s second consecutive year as a winner)
- Sabreen Alam, grade 7, Jeffrey Trail Middle School, “Mediated vs. Unmediated Microbal Fuel Cells”
- Aditi Mundra, grade 6, Canyon View Elementary School, “Solar Desalination-Does Temperature vs. Time of Day Affect the Amount of h20 Purified?”
For more information on the IRWD educational programs, please visit our website.
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