Lake Havasu City, AZ Public Health Rules: Syringe Disposal (2026)

Section 4.12.050, titled PROHIBITED DISCHARGES AND DISCHARGE LIMITS, sets the general rule in subsection A that no person may discharge waste to any sewer connected to the city's treatment plant in quantities that constitute a hazard to humans or animals. Subsection D narrows this for medical providers: "Hospitals, clinics, offices of medical doctors, and convalescent homes, shall not discharge to the sewer by any means" four categories of waste, the first of which is disposable hypodermic needles, syringes and associated articles. The same subsection also bars infectious laboratory and surgical-room wastes, outpatient and emergency-room wastes of similar character, disposable equipment used on patients isolated for a suspected or diagnosed communicable disease, and other solid waste generated in those isolation rooms.

Subsection E leaves room for the county Health Officer to identify additional infectious wastes and, with the Director's concurrence, prohibit their discharge too. Subsection F gives the Department authority to inspect any lateral or collecting sewer suspected of carrying these prohibited materials and to order the condition corrected, disconnecting the offending user from city sewer or water service for continued noncompliance. This sits inside the WASTEWATER SYSTEM chapter, so the prohibition applies wherever a medical facility connects to the city's sewer system, not to sharps generated by residential households, which fall instead under county household hazardous waste handling.

Lake Havasu City Animal Control and the Fire Department are not the enforcing bodies here; the Wastewater Division Director administers Section 4.12.050 and refers violations for the penalties set out later in the same chapter.