Technologies

Northwest PowerPipe's innovative vertical axis turbines extract energy from water moving through the pipe.

Riverside is committed to being the hub of innovative technologies within the Inland Empire. To demonstrate this commitment, Mayor Ron Loveridge formed SmartRiverside, which provides resources to help innovation succeed and to allow Riverside to become a center of high technology. SmartRiverside is focused on attracting and retaining clean tech and high tech companies, developing self-sustaining revenue sources, and identifying new opportunities to foster technology innovation in Riverside. These efforts are attracting entrepreneurs developing revolutionary technology systems, which are helping the city achieve its ambitious sustainability goals.  These technologies include the following projects and programs:

• Grease to Gas

  Riverside Public Utility’s Grease to Gas pilot program uses methane digesters to turn 30,000 gallons per day of waste oil from restaurants throughout Southern California into inexpensive electricity at its wastewater treatment plant. Using restaurant grease as a fuel source not only reduces local restaurant grease disposal costs, but also helps keep Riverside’s sewer system free of restaurant grease. The Grease to Gas program has been a resounding success, creating electricity and natural gas savings valued at $1 million per year. This on-site energy production has the added benefit of making the city more energy independent. The Grease to Gas program has achieved numerous awards since its launch in early 2005, including from the League of California Cities and the California Municipal Utilities Association.

• Riverside In-Pipe Turbine Project

  In February 2010, Riverside Public Utilities announced that it will be the first city in the country to test an in-pipe hydroelectric generator that uses the flow of water through the pipe to generate electricity. Riverside was selected for the real-world testing of this system largely because of the location and capacbilities of Riverside’s water distribution sites, existing efforts in renewable energy, and staff enthusiasm. Created by Northwest Pipe Company and Lucid Energy Technologies, the 48-inch pipe with a vertical axis spherical turbine will carry water through the Gage Canal from the water basins in San Bernardino into the city. This innovative system will capture excess head pressure and transform that energy into electricity, without disrupting water delivery. The pipe turbine will generate between 2 and 7 kilowatts of energy, depending on the velocity of water through the pipe at any given time.

  This technology has significant potential beyond RPU as a way for water agencies, agriculture, and industry to generate revenue from normal pipeline operation. Enclosed in steel pipe, the turbine poses no threat to fish, wildlife, or unmarred vistas of natural landscapes.

  “This is what green technology is all about—continuing environmental responsibility. We have high hopes that this is the first step toward utilizing already-existing municipal infrastructures to create energy for our customers.” - RPU General Manager David Wright

• Riverside Recycled Water Project

  In 2008, Riverside approved the Riverside Recycled Water Project, which will use highly treated wastewater rather than high quality potable water to serve agriculture and irrigation needs throughout the city. The Recycled Water Project was developed in response to increased water demands and environmental needs. The city’s objectives were to establish a framework for planning and implementing a recycled water distribution system, which will allow the city to reduce its dependency on groundwater and contract water. This plan will provide nearly 5 billion gallons of recycled water each year by 2015, and more than 13 billion gallons per year by 2030. The project will pump treated recycled water throughout the city to irrigate parks, golf courses, and other public facilities, preserving the flow and protecting the biological resources of the local Santa Ana River, while at the same time meeting Riverside’s water needs.