City staff and SAWS outline expanded outreach and enforcement options after CCR on multifamily water disconnections

City staff and San Antonio Water System (SAWS) officials told the San Antonio Municipal Utilities Committee on Feb. 2025 they have expanded outreach and coordination to address delinquent master‑metered multifamily accounts and will return to the committee with recommendations after legal and operational analysis.

The update follows a council‑initiated CCR asking staff and SAWS to examine preventive measures to avoid water disconnections at multifamily properties when landlords or property owners fail to pay master‑metered bills.

Mike Shen, city staff, summarized the city’s proactive apartment inspection program, which targets multifamily properties of five or more units and uses proactive inspections, notice and a fee structure to drive faster compliance. He said the program has completed more than 47,000 inspections across roughly 1,800 complexes since inception and that only 39 complexes have ever had to register in the proactive program; 18 of those subsequently “graduated” off the list.

SAWS outreach and collection timeline Cecilia (SAWS representative) described SAWS’ delinquent apartment account process. SAWS reviews accounts for potential disconnection…