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SAWS expands Connect H2O alerts, rebates and outreach as drought enforcement changes reduce repeat violations
Summary
SAWS told the Municipal Utilities Committee May 20 that its Connect H2O meter changeout, education and revised enforcement process have reduced violations and helped identify household leaks; staff also described expanded rebates and HOA outreach and said some data centers are already using recycled water.
San Antonio Water System officials reported to the Municipal Utilities Committee on May 20 that a suite of customer programs, enforcement changes and targeted rebates are yielding lower per‑capita demand and fewer watering violations during the city’s drought.
"One of them that we're just couldn't be more pleased with is the success of the Connect H2O program," said Karen Guz, SAWS’ vice president of conservation. Guz told the committee the program will change out about 600,000 meters by the end of the year. New meters provide near‑real‑time monitoring and can alert customers if a continuous flow persists: "If we've got an email, we've got a mobile phone number, we are using that — if they have a continuous flow for 48 hours, they get a message from us," Guz said. SAWS said about 85% of the time its conservation team can walk customers through the problem over the phone and customers then fix leaks before they receive high bills.
Guz described other program outcomes and incentives: SAWS moved enforcement out of municipal court into an internal process, allowing options such as a one‑hour "when to water" class for first‑time violators; she said first‑time violators who take the class rarely reoffend and that repeat violations are down about 80%. SAWS reported 54% fewer violations when comparing a like period in 2023 to 2024, and that fewer than 1% of all violation cases escalate to the citizens committee.
On incentives, Guz outlined the landscape change program and coupon structure: a standard coupon plus an added $25 per 200 square feet for autumn planting, with homeowners eligible for up to four coupons per year (a potential $600 in incentives). SAWS also offers targeted commercial incentives such as parking‑lot island rebates to replace overspray irrigation with point‑source irrigation that better supports trees.
Council members asked about outreach to neighborhoods and small businesses. SAWS said it has engaged HOAs and neighborhood associations — three of five planned HOA briefings had already occurred — and is working with business stakeholder groups, building owners and the Apartment Association. The utility said it maintains a commercial account database and can sort by NAICS classification to target communications; staff added they have temporarily added callers to update business contact information during the drought.
On artificial turf and higher‑cost landscape conversions, Guz said SAWS is neutral and offers rebates where customers permanently retire irrigation systems; she noted the YMCA is discussing a large athletic‑field conversion and that commercial projects may qualify for a custom rebate. On tree canopy concerns, Guz said SAWS favors targeted point‑source irrigation to sustain trees in parking‑lot islands rather than broad spray irrigation that wastes water and does not reach root balls.
The committee also heard SAWS staff say data centers account for about 2% of commercial‑industrial water use so far, that some data centers use recycled water for cooling towers and that SAWS will provide a summary of which facilities use recycled water upon council request. No formal votes were taken; SAWS staff said the programs are ongoing and invited council collaboration on outreach and code/plan review for irrigation.
