Real World Experience – Things Don’t Always Go as Planned

Friday the 13^th proved to be a bit unlucky for the Irvine Ranch Water District Solar Cup team from El Toro High School. The students entered the best-built boat in the school’s six-year history of competing in the event, but during a qualifying run, the brand new motor seized up and died.

“We were dead in the water,” said team adviser and teacher Doug Ford. “The skipper had to paddle in the rest of the way.”

The Annual Solar Cup race, sponsored by Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, was held the weekend of May 13-15 at Lake Skinner in Riverside County. Qualifying was held on Friday and the boat passed all of its inspections “with flying colors,” Ford said.

“We had the most unique-looking boat, our electrical and mechanical systems were outstanding,” he said. “The motor failed us.”

The eight-member team – many of them seniors – was disappointed, but their spirit was undaunted and returning students are eager to compete next year. Team members and their advisers gathered for a wrap-up barbecue behind the high school’s auto shop Wednesday, May 18. They handed out certificates to the team members with such titles as “Rubber Boot Wader Award,” “Geico Crash Award” and “Best Mechanic Award.”

Each Solar Cup team designs a boat that runs on solar power to compete in two races - a sprint event and an endurance event. The different events test teams’ ability to design their solar boats for maximum energy efficiency as well as speed. The event encourages students who might be thinking about careers in engineering or science. It also gives them valuable real-world experience, demonstrating, as happened with the El Toro boat, to expect the unexpected.

For more information on the IRWD student education programs, please visit our website. For more information on the Annual Solar Cup competition, please visit the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California website.

Creativity and Completeness of Research are Rewarded

Four Irvine students were honored at the May 23 Irvine Ranch Water District board meeting for their innovative water-related science fair projects. The students’ projects were judged by members of the IRWD Water Quality staff during the March 2 science fair.

“These projects are very impressive,” said General Manager Paul Jones before the students were introduced. “Congratulations to each of you for a job well done.”

IRWD has participated in the Irvine Unified School District’s annual science fair for many years. In the fall, IRWD water quality and engineering staff members are on-hand to assist students with their project ideas at Ask-a-Scientist Night. The day of the science fair, IRWD staff seek out the water-related projects from the hundreds of projects submitted and select the winning projects based on the use of the scientific method, creativity, relevance, completeness of research and evidence of problem solving.

Each student received a certificate from the IRWD Board of Directors. In addition, IRWD donates $100 in honor of each student to their schools for the purchase of science equipment or books and $100 to support the science fair.

Winners this year included:

Jessica Wu-Woods, 10^th grade, Woodbridge High School, “The Comparison of Three Different Methods: PCR, Antibody Strips and Metabolite Strips, to Detect E. Coli in Water.” Jessica’s project evaluated three different methods to test for E.coli in water. Current established methods to detect these bacteria can take 18-48 hours, so a reliable, rapid test is needed. Based on the results of her tests, the metabolite strips were inexpensive, easy to use and could fulfill the need for a new way to test for contaminated water. Jessica received an Outstanding Project Award at the IUSD Science Fair; a Special Award, Senior Division, from the National Water Research Institute; a Second Place award at the County Science and Engineering Fair and a Participant at the California State Science Fair.

Andrew Ko, 8^th grade, Vista Verde School, “Potable H2O Growth of Bacteria.” Andrew wanted to discover if water purification tablets are effective in lessening bacterial growth in various types of water. Using one liter of water each from the tap, a water fountain, a pond, from rain and from the toilet, he hypothesized that pond water would become the most purified after adding water purification tablets, because pond water is very dirty. He was correct, and also learned that rain water isn’t so clean, either.

Divya Sripathy, 8^th grade, Lakeside Middle School, “Conserve Water Easily.” Divya set out to learn if using a certain type of drought-tolerant grass can help in water conservation. She used dichondra, which is not drought-tolerant, Marathon II, St. Augustine and Zoysia Tenifolia in her experiment. After watering each grass with one liter of water daily, she found that the drought-tolerant grasses did conserve about four to six liters, compared to dichondra. Zoysia Tenifolia turned out to be the most water-conserving.

Gaby Katz, 6^th grade, Vista Verde School, “The Dynamics of Water Flow.” Gaby wanted to examine if different lengths of hoses would influence the speed with which a bucket of set volume was filled with water. He hypothesized that water flowing through a longer length of hose would take longer to fill a bucket than would a shorter hose. He used four different lengths of hose and a stop watch. After conducting five time trials, he discovered his hypothesis was correct. The results are explained by the principle of water flow, which states that velocity of water flow is dependent on the hydrostatic pressure, the diameter and the length of the hose.

For more information about IRWD education programs, please visit our website.

Your Source for Water Knowledge

Irvine Ranch Water District customers, we know it’s easy to take water for granted – you turn on the tap and the water flows. But how does it get to the tap? More than 50 percent ofthe IRWD water supply comes from local groundwater wells.

“These wells range in depth from 400 to 2,000 feet and extract high quality water from the Orange County groundwater basin,” said IRWD General Manager Paul Jones. “This basin is a resource shared by all of the cities and water districts in northern and central Orange County.”

Approximately 30 percent of the IRWD drinking water is imported from the Colorado River and Northern California. IRWD buys this water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. While Southern California had an above average rainy season this year, our imported water supplies continue to face a variety of challenges, most notably the environmental crisis in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Today, Southern Californians need to continue practicing conservation, in both dry and wet years. Please visit our website to find tips and tools on how to be Always Water Smart.

Meanwhile, here are some other online resources for everything water:

• California Urban Water Conservation Council: www.h2ouse.org
• California Department of Water Resources: www.water.ca.gov
• Metropolitan Water District of Southern California: www.bewaterwise.com
• Orange County Water District: www.ocwd.com

An Oasis of Calm in Urban Environment

The Irvine Ranch Water District San Joaquin Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary was named one of the five best picnic spots in Orange County by the O.C. Weekly Stick a Fork in it blog.

"Enjoy a picnic meal on one of many benches strategically anchored in the prettiest parts of the sanctuary," the blog reads. "You have to walk a good bit to find them, but when you do, you'll be alone."

The blog also describes the marsh as an "oasis of calm, herons skim glassy ponds, ducks quack, reeds sway." Indeed, the marsh is a place of quiet enjoyment. More than 200 species of birds make their home there during different seasons of the year. You may visit dawn to dusk, 365 days a year and it doesn't cost a cent! Hike the 12 miles of trails, or just sit and enjoy the scenery.

Please be aware there is a detour route for the marsh. For more information about the marsh, please visit our website.