REDLANDS>> Esri will soon begin work to connect its campus to the city’s non-potable water system to make it easier for the city to one day install a non-potable system at nearby Jennie Davis Park.
Esri plans to connect to the city’s non-potable line near Toyota of Redlands on New York Street, north of the 10 Freeway. The pipeline will run adjacent to the park, located at Redlands Boulevard and New York Street, making a connection available for future use by the city.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Don Berry, director of operations at Esri, said of the plan to convert to non-potable water. “It uses the water source that can’t be used for other purposes.”
Non-potable water, or recycled water, is not suitable for drinking but can be used for outdoor irrigation.
Hillside Memorial Park, some city-owned parks, the Redlands Country Club and the University of Redlands are connected to the non-potable system.
When the city switches the Jennie Davis Park from potable to non-potable irrigation, it can install a meter at New York Street — it is currently on Redlands Boulevard — and re-pipe the park.
The use of non-potable water at the park could save the city at least 3 million gallons of water per year, city spokesman Carl Baker said in an email.
The pipeline would also give nearby businesses an opportunity to connect to the system, he said.
Berry said that as Esri’s founder and president, Jack Dangermond, would say, “We’re trying to balance our social responsibility with the need for supporting our urban forest.”
Over the past couple of years, Esri has upgraded its irrigation system, installing, for example, intelligent irrigation controllers, permeable surfaces to allow for water percolation and water-efficient fixtures.
“They’re doing a responsible thing by bringing non-potable water to their own campus and they’re making that investment as a corporate citizen, if you will, within the city of Redlands,” said Mayor Paul Foster. “The pipeline coming by Jennie Davis (Park) will certainly make it easier to do the conversion, so we will have one more park using non-potable water.”
Gov. Jerry Brown last month declared a mandatory 25 percent cutback in urban water use. Cities, counties and water agencies that fail to meet the target will face up to $10,000 in daily fines every day they are not in compliance. The city implemented Stage II water-conservation efforts in July, which limits when property owners can irrigate their landscaping.
The use of non-potable water is excluded from the restrictions.
More than 50 businesses in Redlands are connected to the non-potable system, Baker said.
Businesses that convert from potable to non-potable irrigation can be charged a discounted rate per unit.
New developments are required to connect to the non-potable system if they are nearby, such as the Toyota dealership.
The rate for potable water use is $1.65 per unit at the top tier rate. Non-potable is 99 cents per unit with no tiered rate.
If a business converts to non-potable water, it will get an additional discount of 35 cents per unit on the non-potable rate, Baker said.
Discounts on meter installation may also be available, depending on the landscaping, he said.
Depending on elevation, not all businesses can connect to the system, he said.
“It’s very commendable,” Foster said of businesses converting to non-potable water use. “It’s a cost savings for the businesses certainly, but it’s that much less potable water that will be taken out of the groundwater table.”
