in 1915, a committee composed of several leading tulsa businessmen began studying alternative proposals for securing a satisfactory water supply. they considered shell creek, spavinaw creek, grand river and other local wells. however, they were unable to agree on any one system and disbanded without issuing a report. the next mayor of tulsa, o. d. hunt, decided that building a filtration plant would allow usage of water from the arkansas river at a far lower cost. he soon approved a plan to build such a plant for $250,000. tulsa voted for a bond issue to raise the money, and the plant was built at the future site of newblock park. unfortunately, the process failed to meet design specifications and was soon abandoned. tulsa waterworks engineer w. r. holway, who had been hired to make the plant work properly, recommended that the city spend no more money trying to make the arkansas river water potable because it also had a higher salt content than sea water.