We like to say that San Antonio’s commitment and investment in conservation and water innovation has given the city its largest water supply. What does that mean exactly?
Over the past 35 years, SAWS has reduced its GPCD (gallons per capita, per day) by nearly 50 percent (from 225 to 117) by improving infrastructure and cultivating a conservation ethic—all while the population has grown by 150 percent.
With projects like the Aquifer Storage & Recovery, which stores 44 billion gallons of drinking water underground, SAWS is always looking to the future to ensure we’re protected during all seasons. In addition, the SAWS Dos Rios Water Recycling Center has been receiving and treating wastewater from most of San Antonio for three decades. As a national leader in conservation, investing and innovation help plan for waterful solutions year-round.
Using today’s larger population—at 225 gallons per capita, per day—San Antonio would require an additional 70 billion gallons of water per year. Thankfully, SAWS residential customers have enthusiastically embraced conservation both inside their homes and in how they water their yards.
Here’s how well San Antonio has done
San Antonio has saved more than 1 trillion gallons of water over the past 35 years with SAWS conservation programs. Residents can earn coupons and rebates with our WaterSaver program.
During 2015, 2016 and 2017, homeowners replaced over 2 million square feet of traditional grass with drought-tolerant landscape plants—that’s equivalent to 35 football fields.
By 2070, we expect conservation investments will result in 4 trillion gallons of cumulative water savings since 2017, and would replace the need for an additional water supply project providing more than 45 billion gallons per year.
A Beautiful Drought-Ready Yard is Possible
We’ve taken real San Antonio homes and given them a makeunder. They use less water and are more tolerant when drought hits, but that doesn’t mean they’re not lush and beautiful.
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