Residents across San Bernardino County can look to a neighboring Inland Empire city as a powerful example of how innovation and regional collaboration can protect water resources while strengthening public safety.
In early February, the Riverside Fire Department unveiled a new PumpPod training device that is expected to save millions of gallons of water each year without sacrificing the realism firefighters need to prepare for emergencies. The milestone highlights a growing regional commitment to conservation that resonates strongly in water-conscious San Bernardino County.
City leaders and water agency partners gathered on Feb. 3, as Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson and Fire Chief Steve McKinster introduced the PumpPod alongside representatives from Riverside Public Utilities, Western Municipal Water District, and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The unveiling marked months of cooperation aimed at preserving scarce water supplies, while maintaining high standards for emergency response readiness throughout the Inland Empire.
“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.”
The PumpPod functions as a closed-loop system that captures and continuously recirculates water during fire training exercises. This allows firefighters to train with full-force equipment while dramatically reducing waste — an approach that could prove especially valuable for large, diverse counties, like San Bernardino, where both water conservation and fire preparedness are ongoing priorities. The system is expected to save between 3.5 and 4.5 million gallons of water each year.
Fire Chief McKinster underscored the broader benefits of the project, noting its relevance well beyond city boundaries. “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,” 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.”
Regional leaders described the project as a model that could inform future efforts across the Inland Empire, including in San Bernardino County, where agencies continue exploring ways to balance sustainability with public safety demands.
“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 PumpPod was funded through a collaborative mix of local contributions and a state Department of Water Resources grant awarded to Metropolitan Water District, reflecting the same multi-agency approach San Bernardino County frequently relies on to address regional challenges.
“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.”
For San Bernardino County residents, the project stands as a powerful example of how innovation and collaboration can conserve vital resources, strengthen public safety, and set a higher standard for how public agencies prepare for challenges ahead.
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