City Of Tulsa Lifts Voluntary Water Restriction

Mayor Dewey Bartlett issued an executive order Monday, lifting the voluntary water restriction that was implemented at the end of July.

City ordinance states if water use tops 197 million gallons per day for two consecutive days, Stage 1 voluntary water restrictions are put in place. That was put into effect on July 31.

7/31/2012 Related Story: City Of Tulsa Announces Voluntary Water Restrictions

The city said water usage was over 197 million gallons per day every day between July 29 and August 5. Since then, usage has stayed well below 185 million gallons per day. The absolute capacity of the water system is 210 million gallons.

"We received great response from our water customers once voluntary restrictions were enacted two weeks ago," Mayor Bartlett said. "Our plants have been running near 94 percent capacity, but with cooler temperatures and customers taking part in conserving, we have been able to bring our water usage level down dramatically."

The restriction included those within Tulsa city limits as well as the residents in communities that buy their water from the City of Tulsa, including: Bixby, Catoosa, Glenpool, Jenks, Owasso and surrounding water districts.

"With voluntary restrictions lifted, we will closely monitor tank storage levels, water usage and weather conditions in case we need to implement voluntary restrictions again," Mayor Bartlett said.