Project Snapshot:
Title: Rubidoux’s Water and Education Community Center
Location: Rubicoux, California, USA
Project Owner: Rubidoux Community Services District
Project Sector: Water
Project Type: Water Treatment, Energy Production
TAP Cohort: 2025-2026
Envision Verification Status: Not Yet Registered
Academic Support:
University: Cal Poly Pomona
Faculty Lead: Monica Palomo, PhD, PE, BCEE, ENV SP, F.ASCE
Faculty Advisor for Capstone Team
Project Summary:
The Rubidoux District is fully dependent on groundwater to source its potable water supply, and it currently faces numerous challenges with the existing groundwater quality. To address these challenges and improve quality of life in the Rubidoux community, the district is developing a preliminary design proposal, that incorporates Envision, for a reverse osmosis (R.O.) water treatment facility. Key objectives include optimizing economic, social, and environmental benefits for the community; providing education about the importance of clean drinking water; allocating recreational space for community gatherings; and incorporating solar energy to offset power costs.
Plan for Envision:
The project team plans to use Envision to guide more sustainable infrastructure development in Rubioux, a disadvantaged community seeking new partnerships and approaches to community improvement. Pursuing Envision verification will provide the District’s Director of Engineering with firsthand experience applying the framework and evaluating the evidence needed to demonstrate sustainability, building capacity to incorporate Envision into future community projects. The process will also provide students and faculty with practical experience using the framework, helping prepare students to apply it professionally and enabling faculty to incorporate Envision into future projects that benefit other communities.
Academic Engagement:
The Rubidoux project team partnered with Cal Poly Pomona through a civil engineering capstone design project, providing students with an opportunity to apply the Envision framework to a project in their own community. Because the university is located close to the existing treatment facility, students were able to visit the site, work directly with facility professionals, and develop a firsthand understanding of the community’s infrastructure needs. The team applied Envision by assessing credits, evaluating design alternatives, and preparing credit cover sheets and supporting documentation for a proposed reverse osmosis treatment facility. The experience connected students’ academic work with a real-world infrastructure project serving a nearby community, while incorporating sustainability and community-focused features such as stormwater management, backup power, modular expansion, and an on-site Education Center with interpretive features and a demonstration rain garden.
“Thanks to our client, Rubidoux Community Services District (RCSD)… for giving the student team a real project, with real constraints. The team is proud and happy to know that their proposal will help you advancing your critical mission of providing safe drinking water for the RCSD service area.”– Monica Palomo, PhD, PE, BCEE, ENV SP, F.ASCE, Cal Poly Pomona, Faculty Advisor for Capstone Team
Project Updates
