San Antonio Water System

San Antonio Water System has long been committed to protecting and preserving our most precious resource.

Since 2013, SAWS has engaged in proactive efforts to reduce non-revenue water — water that was produced or received from various sources, but never delivered or billed to a customer.

Non-revenue water is sometimes referred to as “water loss,” but that term can be misleading. While non-revenue water does include water “lost” through main breaks and leaking infrastructure, it also includes unbilled water use due to:

Authorized consumption

• Hydrant flushing
• Firefighting
• Water line flushing for health and safety
• Water used for sewer system cleaning and maintenance

Apparent losses

• Inaccurate meters at homes and businesses
• Water theft
• Data errors

In 2024, the SAWS Board of Trustees initiated a renewed focus on water stewardship, to ensure customers receive the best value possible for their monthly water bill payments.

After a series of intensive Board work sessions, a task force of 18 key SAWS leaders from across the utility was assembled to initiate, plan and execute a comprehensive water stewardship program.

2025 Water Stewardship Initiatives

The task force identified accurate measurement as the first step toward controlling and ultimately improving non-revenue water loss, accomplished by:

• Improved water production metering at the source
• Enhanced customer metering via ConnectH2O electronic meters
• More accurate estimates of water lost through breaks and leaks
• Better estimates of unbilled-but-authorized water use such as firefighting and line flushing/cleaning

2025 Water Loss Interventions

In addition to improvements in measurement outlined above, SAWS is committed to reducing “real” water loss through:

• Proactive leak detection
• Improved response time to repair leaks and breaks
• Exploring new technology
• Prioritizing water main replacement projects