Garden for the Environment (GFE) is a nationally acclaimed half-acre education and demonstration garden that supports small-scale urban ecological food production, organic gardening and composting. The garden features low-water use and climate appropriate plants, efficient irrigation and conservation-friendly design. It demonstrates best practices such as composting, planting the right plants in the right place, attracting beneficial bugs, using less-toxic products and methods, and planting native and climate appropriate plants. It is open to the public and located at 7th Avenue and Lawton

Save Water Outdoors Don't let good water go to waste! Imagine using water from your clothes washer to help grow the plants in your garden. Using graywater can reduce the amount of drinking water used for landscape irrigation and reduce water entering our sewer system. What is graywater? Graywater is water from showers, bathtubs, clothes washing machines, and bathroom sinks. It is water that contains some soap but is clean enough to water plants. For more information about graywater and its approved uses, please read our Graywater FAQ. For laundry-to-landscape (L2L) systems, only graywater from

Leaks are common and can happen to anyone at any time. The SFPUC’s courtesy Leak Alert Program reviews hourly water use for all meters that transmit data to us electronically. If we detect continuous hourly water use at small properties and continuous night-time use as well as higher than average use at large properties, we will notify the water account holder, property owner and occupant (if not one and the same) by email, text, phone call or mailed letter, depending on the contact information we have in our billing system. We will send up to three rounds of alerts over 10 weeks while the

The SFPUC offers free, in-person Water-Wise Evaluations at residential, non-residential and landscape properties served by a SFPUC water account. If you are not able to meet in person, we also offer phone consultations. If you haven't applied for conservation assistance online before, you'll need to register first. You will need your SFPUC Water account number, which you can find on your bill.

Trace the extraordinary history of San Francisco's water system. When the city chose a site in the pristine Hetch Hetchy valley, an epic battle was led by John Muir. Today, with the impact of climate change keenly felt, the politics of water remain front page news. Explore the ways an urban water utility, and those who depend on it, are learning to adapt and plan for an uncertain future.

We love to help inspire children to save water and protect our environment. We and our partners offer free school field trips to the following locations: College Hill Learning Garden We designed this educational and demonstration garden to teach local students about environmentally friendly water use, food, energy, and waste systems. Garden for the Environment Since 1990, we have partnered with a Garden for the Environment to support adult and youth education about sustainable gardening at this Inner Sunset teaching garden. Come learn to install water wise irrigation systems and tend your

As part of our mission, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission works with community and education organizations to create engaging programs that teach children to make sustainable choices in everyday life. We worked with the California Academy of Sciences on The Story of Poo, an animated video following a six-year old girl from San Francisco who learns about what takes place after she flushes the toilet. The story is designed to teach elementary school students about how San Francisco’s sewer system works. It is told through the girl’s perspective and explores her curiosity and

In partnership with the Center for Ecoliteracy, the SFPUC created Big Ideas to serve as a resource for curriculum developers, teachers and schools. The idea for the book is prompted by our commitment to foster the next generation of environmental stewards and provide a water, power and sewer framework for Grades K-12. Big Ideas is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Download a copy of Big Ideas