SAWS taps Garver for $1.5m recycled water master plan amid looming data center demand

SAWS taps Garver for $1.5m recycled water master plan amid looming data center demandThe San Antonio Water System has commissioned its first comprehensive recycled water master plan to evaluate system capacity and infrastructure needs as industrial requests continue to rise.

The Board approved a $1.5 million professional services contract with Garver, LLC to develop a 30-year capital improvement program.

The utility's recycled water system features 130 miles of pipeline and 122 MGD of pumping capacity, offsetting nearly 10% of the city's potable water demand.

The master plan will recalibrate the system's hydraulic model to help SAWS evaluate site-specific capacity for new industrial users, explicitly including prospective data centers.

The San Antonio Water System (SAWS) Board of Trustees approved a $1.5 million professional services contract with Garver, LLC on July 7 to develop a comprehensive Recycled Water System Master Plan. The 30-year planning document will guide capital improvements and capacity expansions for one of the largest direct-use recycled water systems in the United States. Operational since 1999, the SAWS recycled water system comprises 130 miles of distribution pipeline, 122 million gallons per day (MGD) of pumping capacity, and 12.1 million gallons of storage. The system currently serves 114 customers—including the San Antonio Riverwalk and a Toyota manufacturing plant that utilizes 1 MGD for its painting processes—and offsets approximately 10% of the city's potable water demand. Despite its scale, the utility has not previously completed a dedicated master plan for the recycled water network. Marisa Palmer, SAWS Director of Plants and Major Projects, noted that the plan will assess the condition of existing infrastructure and recalibrate the system's 2022 hydraulic model. This recalibration is critical for evaluating site-specific capacity to accommodate new industrial connections. Palmer explicitly highlighted the growing pressure from the technology sector, noting that the master plan will "position the system to better respond to recycled water requests, including data centers, from a planning and growth perspective." A previous board briefing by the utility's water resources division had already flagged potential future data center requests as a key demand driver. Garver, LLC, which previously completed the SAWS 2022 Wastewater Facilities Master Plan, was selected from a shortlist of six firms. The firm's scope of work will include a system-wide condition assessment, capacity expansion evaluations, regulatory compliance reviews, and the delivery of a phased, prioritized capital improvement program to meet near- and long-term needs.