Landscape Guide: Introduction

Introduction | Water Characteristics | Soil Management |
Irrigation | Turf Grass | Water Features | Plant List

The Benefits of Recycled Water

South Bay Water Recycling provides recycled water for non-drinking uses, such as irrigating golf courses, parks, school property, business parks, and agricultural land in San Jose, Santa Clara and Milpitas. Recycled water is also used for industrial cooling and processing.

This program provides a safe, reliable supply of water, even during our region's periods of unpredictable and often erratic rainfall. Our Mediterranean climate includes drought cycles that can have a devastating effect on the landscape.

Unless we use supplemental irrigation, we are limited locally to growing plants that are drought-tolerant or adapted to average winter rainfall of about 14 inches. The greatest demand for water occurs during our summer dry growing season, when need often exceeds the supply. Using recycled water allows us to continue to have adequate water to keep our landscapes healthy and green, without using precious drinking water supplies.While this recycled water program is new to the South Bay, recycled water has been successfully used throughout California for many years. It is an innovative and effective way to irrigate landscapes and protect valuable natural resources.

South Bay Water Recycling (SBWR) is pleased to provide information and assistance to recycled water customers. SBWR can provide assistance in the form of:

• site evaluations;
• soil and plant tissue analysis and recommendations;
• water quality information;
• irrigation system evaluations;
• training for site supervisors
• workshops in Successful Landscape Management, with specific suggestions on using recycled water most effectively.

Environmental Landscapes

Silicon Valley continues to bloom, but over the years, there's been a change in the kind of landscapes you see. This is mostly due to the need to conserve our limited water supply, but there are other factors at work, as well: the appeal of more natural landscapes with native plants or plants that are well adapted to our climate; reduced use of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, and more effective irrigation systems. The increased availability of recycled water will add even more to the beauty and variety of local landscapes.

A Better Environment

Water recycling reduces the amount of treated wastewater that is discharged from the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant into San Francisco Bay. That in turn helps keep the wetlands in balance and limits any harm to the ecological balance of the bay's fragile wetlands habitat.

The San Francisco Bay wetlands are a delicate mix of fresh water and salt water, providing a home for thousands of plant and animal species.

Your use of recycled water protects endangered creatures such as the California Clapper Rail and Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse, while also preserving our natural marshes and conserving fresh drinking water supplies for future generations.

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