Health rules.
Tulsa Revised Ordinances tit. 11-C, § 401
in effectSection 401. - Health rules.
(Note: On February 14, 1989, the citizens of Tulsa approved an Amended Charter of the City of Tulsa to take effect at twelve o'clock noon on the 8th day of May, 1990. Pursuant to the provisions of the Amended Charter, references in this section to Water Commissioner shall mean Mayor of the City of Tulsa and references to Water Department shall mean Water and Sewer Department of the City of Tulsa.)
Whereas the Commissioner of Health of the State of Oklahoma has, for the preservation of the public health, promulgated, adopted and put in force and effect in the Spavinaw Water District, the rules and regulations given herein.
A. Definition of reservoir. That the term "reservoir," heretofore used in these regulations, is intended to mean and refer to the Spavinaw Lake or Reservoir or to any tributary which serves as a source of the Spavinaw Reservoir.
B. Definition of the water course. That wherever the term "Water Course" is used in these rules and regulations it is intended to mean and include every spring, pond, stream, ditch, gutter or other channel of every kind, the waters of which when running, whether continuously or occasionally, eventually flow or may flow into the said Spavinaw Reservoir.
C. Meaning of linear distance. Whenever a linear distance of a structure or object from the reservoir, or from a water course, is mentioned in these regulations, it is intended to mean the shortest horizontal distance from the nearest water line of said reservoir or water course.
D. High water line. Whenever the term "high water line" is used in these rules and regulations, it shall be taken and construed to mean elevation, in feet above sea level, of six hundred ninety (690) for margin of said Spavinaw Reservoir, and seven hundred eighty (780) feet for margin of said Lake Eucha, according to the United States government plat thereof.
E. Refuse matters not to be discharged in Spavinaw Reservoir.
1. No human excrement shall be deposited or discharged into the Spavinaw Reservoir or into any watercourse, as hereinbefore defined in Paragraph B; and no cesspool, privy or other receptacle for the deposit of human excrement shall be located, constructed or maintained within said Spavinaw Water District, unless such cesspool, privy or other receptacle be so constructed that no portion of its contents can escape or be washed into such waters, and shall not be located closer than six hundred sixty (660) feet to water's edge.
2. No human excrement, or compost containing human excrement or contents of any privy, cesspool, sewer or other receptacle for the reception or storage of human excrement shall be deposited or discharged within said Spavinaw Water District or upon or into the ground at a place from which any such excrement, compost or contents or particles thereof, may flow or be washed or carried into the Spavinaw Reservoir, or into any water course as hereinabove defined in Paragraph B.
3. No house slops, sink waste, water which has been used for washing or cooking or other polluted water shall be discharged into the said Spavinaw Reservoir, or into any water course within said Spavinaw Water District; and no house slops, sink waste, water which has been used for washing or cooking or other polluted water shall be discharged into or upon any ground in said Spavinaw Water District within six hundred sixty (660) feet of the high water line of said Spavinaw Reservoir, or of any water course as hereinabove described in Paragraph B.
4. No garbage, manure or putrescible matter whatsoever shall be put into the said Spavinaw Reservoir, or into any water course as hereinabove described in Paragraph B; and no garbage, manure or putrescible matter whatsoever shall be put upon the ground in said Spavinaw Water District within six hundred sixty (660) feet of the high water line of said Spavinaw Reservoir or of the high water line of any watercourse, as herein above defined in Paragraph B; or within any such greater distance as may from time to time be established either by the State Health Department or by the City of Tulsa.
5. No stable, pigsty, henhouse, barnyard, hog yard, hitching or standing place for horses, cattle or other animals, or other place where animal manure is deposited or accumulated, shall be located, constructed or maintained in said Spavinaw Water District, any part of which is within six hundred sixty (660) feet of the high water line of any water course, as hereinabove defined in Paragraph B.
6. No refuse, industrial wastes or other waste products or polluting liquids or other substance of a nature poisonous or injurious either to human beings or animals, or of such nature as would impart an objectionable taste or odor to any water into which it might be discharged, and no putrescible matter whatsoever shall be discharged directly into or at any place from which it may flow or be washed or carried into such Spavinaw Reservoir or into any water course, as hereinabove defined in Paragraph B.
F. Approval State Department of Health; when. No system of sewers or other works for the collection, conveyance, disposal or purification of domestic or manufacturing sewage, wastes or drainage, or any other putrescible matters whatsoever shall, except in accordance with plans first approved in writing by the State Department of Health, be constructed or maintained at any place within the Spavinaw Water District so called. No private or separate sewer shall be constructed or maintained in said Spavinaw Water District having an outlet upon or in the ground within six hundred sixty (660) feet of the high water line of such Spavinaw Reservoir or of the high water line of any water course, as hereinabove defined in Paragraph B.
G. Hospitals prohibited unless approved by the State Board of Health. No public or private hospital, or other place intended for the reception or treatment of persons afflicted with a contagious or infectious disease, shall, until the location and construction thereof have been approved in writing by the State Board of Health, be located or constructed at any place within the Spavinaw Water District. No public or private hospital, or other place intended for the reception or treatment of persons afflicted with a contagious or infectious disease, shall be maintained at any place within such water district unless all the provisions required by the State Board of Health for the purification or disposal of sewage, drainage or other polluting or organic matter which may be discharged therefrom, are fully complied with.
H. Permits required. No person shall bathe in and no person shall, unless permitted by a special regulation or by written permit of the Mayor of the City of Tulsa, fish in or send, drive or put any animal into said Spavinaw lake or reservoir, or bathe or fish in, or send, drive or put any animal into any water course as hereinabove defined in Paragraph B. No person other than a member of said Water Department of the City of Tulsa, its officers, agents or employees, or public officer, whose duties may so require, shall, unless so permitted by regulations or permit of said Mayor enter or go in any boat, motor boat, skiff, raft or other contrivance, on or upon water of said Spavinaw Reservoir, or on or upon the water of any water course as hereinabove defined in Paragraph B.
I. No buildings permitted. No human habitation, cottage, tent, camp site or residence of any kind, either temporary or permanent, shall be hereafter built, set up or constructed upon any lands within six hundred sixty (660) feet of the high water line of the Spavinaw Reservoir or of any water course in said Spavinaw Water District, except upon such or any part of such lands the natural drainage of which is not into such reservoir or water courses; provided, however, that the City of Tulsa may construct and maintain such structure within such prohibited territory as may be necessary in the furtherance of the protection of such reservoir from contamination and pollution.
J. Reports of contagious or infectious diseases. All reports which may be made to any board of health, or to any health officer of any town or county, of cases of contagious or infectious diseases occurring within the water shed of said Spavinaw Water District, shall be open to the inspection of the Mayor of the City of Tulsa, his officers or agents, at all reasonable times.
K. Physicians to give notice. It shall be the duty of all physicians practicing their profession in said Spavinaw Water District to give notice immediately to the Mayor of the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma and to the Commissioner of Health of the State of Oklahoma of any case of contagious or infectious disease in said Spavinaw Water District coming to the knowledge of such physician, or known or suspected by such physician to exist within such Spavinaw Water District; such notices shall be upon such forms as the Mayor shall provide, and said physician shall be entitled to receive for such services a reasonable compensation to be fixed by resolution by the Mayor.
L. That from and after this date, no more burials or interments shall be made in the Spavinaw cemetery or at any other place within such Spavinaw Water District.
(Note: Promulgated by the Commissioner of Health of Oklahoma, Apr. 2, 1924)
Therefore, these Rules and Regulations are hereby adopted and made a part of this chapter.
(Ord. No. 22850, § 1, 3-28-2013, eff. 4-1-2013; Ord. No. 24254, §§ 1—3, 10-30-19)
Source: City of Tulsa, Revised Ordinances and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/ok/tulsa/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_TIT11-CWASE_CH4SPWADI_S401HERUFetched: 10/28/2026