Report Water Waste

Very few people wake up in the morning and say, “Today I’m going to waste some water.” Most simply don’t know the rules.

By reporting water waste, you’re helping SAWS educate your neighbors and the community about what is and isn’t allowed in a friendly, non-threatening way.

Here's How It Works

If you see a homeowner or business wasting water, use our reporting form to tell us about it.

  • Please give as much information as possible. Include location/address, date, and time of day along with a brief description of the problem.
  • Within a few days, SAWS will contact the responsible party by phone, mail or in person to issue a warning – a friendly reminder about the rules. (Note: Watering on the wrong day or time may result in a citation being issued without prior warning if witnessed in person by an enforcement officer.)
  • Most people cheerfully correct the issue reported and the process ends there.

Report Water and Sewer Emergencies

If you see a leak that appears to come from the SAWS water or sewer system, please call 210-704-SAWS (7297) any time of day or night.

What is Water Waste?

San Antonio’s Conservation Ordinance lists a number of activities that are considered water waste, regardless of the time of year or current drought stage.

Water waste includes:

  • Landscape watering with an irrigation system or sprinkler outside designated watering hours.
  • Allowing water from any source to run off into a gutter, ditch, or storm drain
  • Failure to repair a controllable leak
  • Runoff or overspray from a sprinkler or irrigation system regardless of the time of day
  • Landscape watering during or shortly after a rain (Note: All automatic irrigation systems in San Antonio – both residential and commercial – are required to have working rain sensors to prevent this problem.)
  • Charity car washes held at any location other than a permanent car wash facility
  • Additional requirements of any drought restriction stage currently in effect

What Is Allowed?

The following activities are allowed unless restricted by any drought restriction stage currently in effect:

  • Watering with a hand-held hose, soaker hose, drip irrigation, small bucket or watering can.
  • Pressure washing of parking lots, driveways, streets or sidewalks as long as street runoff does not occur. (Note: Commercial pressure washers working in San Antonio are required by ordinance to register with SAWS.)
  • Washing of vehicles or other mobile equipment at a home or business. Use of an automatic shut-off nozzle or bucket is recommended to prevent street runoff.
  • Use of commercial vehicle wash facilities is allowed at any time.