§ 34-124. Irrigation water service charge.

(a)

General. An irrigation water service rate is hereby established and is set out in Schedule C which is attached hereto and incorporated herein. Such rate is applicable to the use of potable water for the growth and maintenance of outdoor landscaping and turf. Such rate is not applicable when recycled water is used for such purposes.

(b)

New non-residential accounts. From and after the date of this ordinance, all customers that are installing an in-ground landscape irrigation system and seeking application for water service from the San Antonio Water System for new non-residential accounts shall be required to install a separate irrigation meter. All non-residential accounts receiving new service after 12:01 a.m. December 1, 2000 that install an in-ground irrigation system after initial water service is established will be required to install a dedicated irrigation meter when the new in-ground irrigation system is installed.

(c)

Existing non-residential accounts. Existing non-residential customers that have an irrigation system and do not have a separate irrigation meter may choose to install a separate meter for irrigation purposes.

(1)

If an existing non-residential customer that has an irrigation system chooses not to install an irrigation meter the customer has two options:

Option One:

a.

SAWS will estimate for the non-residential customer through the use of surveys, meter sizes, past use or other methods the amount of water used for irrigation purposes. SAWS will notify in writing the resulting finding and apply the appropriate rate schedule.

b.

SAWS at its own discretion reserves the right to install irrigation meters on existing non-residential accounts SAWS determines would be beneficial for SAWS to install.

c.

SAWS will make all reasonable efforts to have irrigation use defined for all existing non-residential accounts that have irrigation systems by December 31, 2001.

Option Two:

If an existing non-residential customer chooses Option Two they must submit a Potable Water End-Use Report that at a minimum calculates the volume of potable water from a single meter that is used separately for irrigation and non-irrigation purposes. The Potable Water End-Use Report must be prepared by a registered professional engineer, licensed landscape irrigation auditor or licensed master plumber. The Potable Water End-Use Report must include the findings of a flow study, a description of potable water end-use categories found on site, a landscape plan and any other information the customer would like to include as supporting documentation in the report. The completed Potable Water End-Use Report must be submitted to the director of customer service of the San Antonio Water System. If the director of customer service approves the Potable Water End-Use Report, the San Antonio Water System shall mail notice of this action to the customer and shall make adjustments to the customer's bills retroactive to the date the Potable Water End-Use Report was received in the office of the director of customer service. Those non-residential customers existing prior to January 1, 2001 that choose this option must have end-use reports submitted to the director of customer service by April 1, 2001.

(d)

New and existing residential accounts. Both new and existing residential customers may choose to install a separate irrigation meter.

(Ord. No. 92752, § 1, 10-19-00)