As important as it is to provide
the best quality of water to
our customers, it is equally important
to responsibly treat the wastewater
that is produced. SAWS Treatment
has received national recognition for
innovative and community-inclusive
programs to ensure that discharged
water is of the highest quality.
In 2002, our Recycling Centers
received awards from the Association of Metropolitan
Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) for outstanding compliance
with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
permits. Although these awards only go to a few
plants in the nation each year, all of SAWS plants
have received AMSA awards each year since 1995.
The water recycling system
includes:
Four major wastewater
treatment plants
130 million gallons of wastewater
treated per day on average
(225 million gallons of
wastewater capacity)
Water treated at our Recycled Water (or sewage
treatment) plants goes through an advanced treatment process.
This process uses physical, biological, and chemical methods
to remove harmful materials in the water. The final product
is colorless and odorless. The high-quality treated water
is discharged into local streams and returned to the city
for recycling. Tests performed on the San Antonio River show
that the quality of the river water is actually improved downstream
from SAWS plants due to the introduction of recycled water.
Recycling high-quality water from SAWS
plants has also become an important
resource for many businesses and
government entities in San Antonio with
heavy landscaping and industrial needs.
Businesses see the benefit of using recycled
water because it is a reliable supply and
essentially drought proof. San Antonio
successfully reuses more than 24 billion
gallons of water per year making SAWS an
industry leader in water recycling operations.
Our Pretreatment Program placed second
in the nation for the Environmental Protection
Agency’s ‘EPA National Clean Water Act
Recognition Awards’ in 2002. The program
won the award for partnering with local industry
and manufacturers to educate and ensure that
contaminants are not released into the sewer
system, and in turn do not adversely affect the
city’s water recycling centers.
As important as it is to provide
the best quality of water to
our customers, it is equally important
to responsibly treat the wastewater
that is produced. SAWS Treatment
has received national recognition for
innovative and community-inclusive
programs to ensure that discharged
water is of the highest quality.
Recycling high-quality water from SAWS
plants has also become an important
resource for many businesses and
government entities in San Antonio with
heavy landscaping and industrial needs.
Businesses see the benefit of using recycled
water because it is a reliable supply and
essentially drought proof. San Antonio
successfully reuses more than 24 billion
gallons of water per year making SAWS an
industry leader in water recycling operations.
