Riverside and Water Agencies Team Up to Help Riverside Fire Department Save Millions of Gallons of Water

Published: 2/4/2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Feb. 4, 2026

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Phil Pitchford

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City of Riverside and Water Agencies Team Up to Help Riverside Fire Department Save Millions of Gallons of Water Annually with New PumpPod Device

Department can recycle water during crucial fire training without sacrificing quality

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The Riverside Fire Department will save millions of gallons of water each year without sacrificing the quality of its training exercises by utilizing a PumpPod device made possible through a cooperative effort of local water agencies.

Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson and Fire Chief Steve McKinster unveiled the PumpPod on Tuesday (2/3) along with representatives of Riverside Public Utilities, Western Municipal Water District and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

"We are improving our water efficiency in a way that doesn't readily spring to mind, like with a low-flow toilet or a drip irrigation system for your landscaping," Lock Dawson said. "Yet millions of gallons of water will be saved with the PumpPod in a way that improves on firefighter training."

PumpPod is a closed system which recaptures and recirculates the full-flowing water used during firefighter training, saving an estimated 3.5 to 4.5 million gallons of water per year.

"This PumpPod is a great example of what both collaboration and ingenuity look like. Professionals from their respective fields, coming together to create meaningful change for the greater good of our community and our natural resources," Fire Chief Steve McKinster said. "The PumpPod allows our firefighters to participate in high-stress, real world training, while continuously circulating approximately 2,000 gallons of water, saving thousands of gallons of water during each training evolution."

The event highlighted how collaboration among regional water agencies can deliver an environmentally and fiscally responsible project.

"As the first Inland Empire utility to introduce a PumpPod, we're proud to have created a roadmap that other agencies can follow," said Robin Glenney, Assistant General Manager of Water for RPU. "This project, combined with the suite of other indoor and outdoor water conservation measures that RPU provides to our customers, will help us save over 9 million gallons of water each year, while improving how RFD conducts its training operations."

The acquisition of the PumpPod was funded through a collaborative effort, including a grant to MWD from the state Department of Water Resources and contributions from RFD, RPU, and Western Water.

"At Western Water, serving as both a retail and wholesale provider means we work across communities to support local agencies while also strengthening regional water reliability through collaboration and smart investments," said Laura Roughton, Board President for Western Water. "This project reflects a true partnership by bringing together local leadership, regional wholesale support, and state grant funding to deliver."

More information about a PumpPod can be found here.

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