Anyone received a SAWS fine for watering on the wrong day? (San Antonio: neighborhoods, residential)

[wellguy]

Originally Posted by RGJ

If the fines they give out don't justify the water police payroll(which I would bet it does), then they need to dissolve the water police and just let all these good neighbors that turn in people do their "civic duty".

The only problem with a Neighbor reporting a Neighbor is that there is no enforcement what so ever. An Official SAWS Representative (Water Police) must see the violation taking place. If I were to call 704-SAVE or 704-SAWS they would accept my information and mail the Culprit a Warning Letter.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by wellguy

The only problem with a Neighbor reporting a Neighbor is that there is no enforcement what so ever. An Official SAWS Representative (Water Police) must see the violation taking place. If I were to call 704-SAVE or 704-SAWS they would accept my information and mail the Culprit a Warning Letter.

Tips give the water police an idea of where and when to look for violations.

After a reasonable amount of time has been given to correct the issue, additional reports of water waste at the same location will result in placement on the SAWS Water Waster List for a period of six months.

Water Waster List locations receive special attention from patrolling San Antonio Police Department water enforcement officers.

I use SAWS: Report Water Waste rather than the phone. It's convenient and detailed.

[Maleigh99]

I can understand wanting to fight if you're *absolutely* sure you did not violate the restrictions, however, why would they make this up? Do you think they randomly select people and send them a violation letter? I'm just curious. I don't think they need to make up violations, when it seems like there's plenty of actual ones out there.

[wellguy]

Its' sad that there are many Folks out there ignoring the Ordinace. I appreciate wanting to have a nice yard but they need to understand the reason for it. I'm certain SAWS doesn't like the fact that they are paying 6-7-8-???? Off Duty Police and Park Police. As ratepayers that's our money that could be spent elsewhere.

[ardamir]

Also the money collected from the fines doesnt go to SAWS, it goes to the city. SAWS would much rather issue warnings than citations but some people just dont care. The main intent of the citations isnt to take your money, it is to take your time. There are a lot of people out there who would happily pay $50 to keep watering. However, the lesson seems to stick a bit longer if you make it a huge hassle to pay.

[Trivet The Fool]

One point that seems to have been overlooked in all the 'just pay your fine' calls is that the citation might have been issued to the wrong address.

We've received four citations from code compliance for "high weeds and unkempt appearance" in the front yard. To keep it short and polite (not to mention that the 'weeds' were 3" high), the officer hadn't been able to read the house number from the street and simply assumed they wrote down the correct address. The house is question was actually three houses down from ours.

[mjfrog]

I wish they would change the time windows for watering. While it's nice to walk the dogs in the evening when a fine mist passes over us during watering time, the sea breeze peaks between 8 and 10 pm, meaning a lot of folks are watering the air as much as their lawn. The finer the spray (usually from water sprinkler systems) the more water wasted. 10 pm to midnight and 4 am to 9 am would be a better plan to keep the water on the ground. They should also encourage more soaker hose use, especially those made of cloth fabric--the blackbirds and heat stress ruins foam fabric soaker hoses in a hurry.

[RGJ]

From a KSAT article.

"Regarding the complaint about that house with two dozen complaints about watering, SAWS said it had trouble getting access to that gated neighborhood but that those complaints were not ignored".

Italics and bold print mine. I've been in many a gated subdivisions and have observed watering at will. I can just imagine the guards at the gate sending out a mass text message to homeowners: "The water police are entering the subdivision. Turn off your sprinklers".

[wellguy]

Concerning the Gated Community comment by SAWS......
TRUST ME...If those homes have a SAWS Meter SAWS does indeed have the gate code. How else is SAWS going to read the meters, repair sewer mains, etc?

Gated or not, Guards or not, One Master Meter or 15 Individual Meters, Folks are to abide by the Watering Ordinace.and again SAWS does have Gate Cose as well as CPS.

That reasoning was nothing more than a **** POOR EXCUSE. When I heard that BS Story I almost choked on dinner.

[wellguy]

TRUST ME....SAWS has the Gate Codes. How else would they be able to get in a Read the Meter?

That **** POOR EXCUSE or LIE (to the Public) almost caused me to choke on Dinner.