Remember to water the Alamo

One thing you can't help but notice at the Alamo is the plant life everywhere around the mission. They maintain the grounds beautifully.



During my new years day visit I noticed a sign near a bush warning people not to drink the water. It says that the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, who maintain the site, cooperate with the municipal utility in San Antonio to use recycled water for landscape irrigation.



When I got home I found this article from the San Antonio Business Journal.

SAWS [San Antonio Water System] completed its water recycling system in 2001 as the nation’s largest of its kind. The water utility built the system to provide an alternative to Edwards Aquifer water for use in parks, golf courses and other landscaping purposes.

SAWS collects treated waste water at its Leon Creek and Dos Rios plants and pumps the recycled water back through separate pipes for use on the lawns of its recycled water customers, including the Alamo, USAA, Brackenridge Park, Trinity University, Lackland Air Force Base and the University of Texas at San Antonio.

The article notes that the program is helpful during times of drought and that it helped the city attract a new high-tech employer that uses recycled water to cool their computer systems.

“Recycled water has really become an economic resource for our community,” says SAWS Chief Operating Officer Steve Clouse. “Before, it seemed we had a product no one wanted; now the demand for recycled water just increases each year. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come in seven short years and 10 billion gallons.”

I'm not aware of Springfield doing anything like this and I couldn't find any information about recycled water at CWLP's website. Someone please correct me if the program already exists.

This is the kind of effort Springfield should make before we spend millions on a water project that may be greater than our needs. It's the sort of program Lincoln Land Community College should think about. I saw them watering their grounds during the hottest hours of the afternoon almost every day last summer.

From what I saw, the San Antonio water conservation program doesn't result in brown lawns or ugly grounds. If it's good enough for the Alamo...