Commercial Water Treatment in Riverside, CA
Riverside summers regularly push past 100 degrees, and the city's water is all hard groundwater. That combination is tough on cooling towers, chillers and boilers. Hydrovida helps Riverside distribution centers, hospitals, campuses and manufacturers cut water and energy costs, keep scale out of their equipment, and stay ready for inspections.
What you get
- An on-site look at your towers, boilers and water systems
- A written report with what we found
- Savings estimates you can take to your team
Get your free water analysis
No cost, no obligation. We’ll follow up to set up your on-site water analysis.
What's in Riverside's water
Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) met all of its 2025 water demand with groundwater from the Bunker Hill and Riverside basins. RPU treats some wells directly and blends all of its sources at a central location before the water goes into the distribution system. Unlike most Southern California cities, Riverside doesn't rely on imported water.
That groundwater is very hard. RPU's 2025 water quality report lists average hardness of 197 mg/L, or about 12 grains per gallon, with a range of 180 to 210 mg/L, plus about 157 mg/L of alkalinity and 357 mg/L of dissolved solids. Water like that leaves scale on tower fill, chiller tubes and heat exchangers as it evaporates. Running a tower at too few cycles wastes water, and running it at too many without the right inhibitor builds scale fast. Because Riverside's supply stays fairly steady, a well-tuned program can safely push cycles higher than many sites run today.
Who we work with in Riverside
Riverside's economy includes large logistics and distribution centers, hospitals and medical offices, universities and colleges, food and beverage plants, and manufacturing along the 91 and 215 corridors. Distribution centers and offices run comfort-cooling towers and chilled water loops. Hospitals need documented Legionella control. Campuses and plants run central plants with boilers, towers and process cooling. We already work with facilities across Southern California, including the Inland Empire.
How Hydrovida fixes it
For cooling towers, we test your water, set inhibitor and cycles of concentration for Riverside's hard groundwater, and install controllers with remote monitoring so conductivity and chemical feed stay on target between visits. For heavily scaled towers, we clean fill, basins and distribution decks and then keep them clean. For closed loops, we stop the corrosion and sludge that plug strainers and wear out pumps.
For boilers, we set up softening and treatment that protect tubes and cut blowdown and fuel. For hospitals and any building with a cooling tower, we write and maintain ASHRAE 188 water management plans and run routine Legionella testing. Our chemistry is made by Hydrovida, with NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 certified chemistry options available.
Rebates and discharge rules
RPU's business water rebate page lists SoCal Water$mart rebates for cooling tower conductivity controllers and cooling tower pH controllers. Rebates must be reserved before purchase and amounts can change, so we help you confirm eligibility before you buy.
Riverside Public Works runs an industrial pretreatment program for businesses that discharge to the city's sewer and the Riverside Water Quality Control Plant. Depending on what and how much you discharge, you may need an industrial waste discharge permit. We help you keep tower blowdown and process discharge within your permit limits.
What you can expect
Across 120+ facilities, Hydrovida customers average a 30% reduction in water use and $36K a year in savings. Eight in 10 facilities we analyze find savings, and we've never lost a customer because of performance. Start with a free water analysis.
What we do in Riverside
Cooling Towers & HVAC
Run more cycles, buy less water.
Cooling Tower Cleaning
Remove sludge, scale and slime.
Boilers & Steam
Protect tubes and cut fuel.
Closed Loop Systems
Stop rusty water and failing pumps.
Legionella Risk Management
ASHRAE 188 water management plans and testing.
Controllers & Remote Monitoring
Catch problems the day they start.
- 120+
- Facilities served
- $36K
- Average yearly savings per customer
- 30%
- Average water reduction
- 0
- Customers lost to performance
Averages across Hydrovida customers.
Questions
How hard is Riverside's water?
RPU's 2025 water quality report shows average hardness of 197 mg/L, or about 12 grains per gallon, with a range of 180 to 210 mg/L. We test your water before setting a program.
Does Riverside Public Utilities offer cooling tower rebates?
RPU lists SoCal Water$mart rebates for cooling tower conductivity and pH controllers for business customers. Rebates must be reserved before purchase, so we help you check first.
Do I need a discharge permit for cooling tower blowdown?
It depends on your discharge. Riverside Public Works decides whether you need an industrial waste discharge permit. We help you track blowdown and stay within your limits.