Location of Sugar Creek Major Spill 2025-07-14

Here is the location of the Valdosta Sugar Creek sewage spill 2025-07-12 and what Valdosta has to say about it, including the city’s press release of this morning. Plus a few suggestions from WWALS.

Valdosta Utilities Director Jason Barnes requests that next time anybody smells or sees something, please go ahead and call Valdosta Utilities so Utilities can go look right then.

For Valdosta water or sewer problems,
- please call Valdosta Utilities at 229-259-3592
- or for after hours emergencies at 229-434-4132.

Please also report it to WWALS so we can follow up, as well.
https://wwals.net/report/

Utilties Director Barnes also told me that they had already started the required daily sampling after a major spill. Even though the city is reporting this as less than 10,000 gallons, nonetheless it affected a waterway (Sugar Creek), so he’s calling it major.

This spill has not yet shown up on the daily GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report.

Location of Sugar Creek Major Spill, West of RR trestle, by Sherwood Drive, North of bypass pump 2025-07-14

This is what failed: the bypass pump, due to overheating.

It’s very easy to tell when it is running, because it makes a loud noise. Evidently, nobody regularly checks on it.

I have suggested a remote sensor to at least show when the pump is running. Perhaps a remote thermometer, as well. Jason Barnes said he was already looking into remote sensors.

Movie: Bypass pump running, 2025:07:14 11:52:38, (17M) –jsq for WWALS 30.8515113, -83.3148111

Here the bypass pipe crosses Sugar Creek underneath the Norfolk Southern Railroad trestle.

Bypass pipe across Sugar Creek, 2025:07:14 11:53:50, –jsq for WWALS 30.8517396, -83.3147811

Jason Barnes told me this morning the sewage was coming out of the first manhole north of the railroad trestle, a tall one, with a pipe at the bottom. I sent him this picture, and he confirmed it was this one, with the ladder in it.

Where the sewage came out: Manhole W0057, 2111 South Sherwood Drive, 2025:07:14 12:15:09, –jsq for WWALS 30.8524500, -83.3150400

That’s the manhole where the sewage bypass originally started back in January.

The sewage bypass originally used manhole W0057 near Sherwood Drive feeder creek, 2025:01:25 12:28:44, –jsq for WWALS 30.8527277, -83.3150186

It’s manhole W0057, below 2111 South Sherwood Drive, according to the Valdosta sewer system map WWALS got from the Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC) via open records request to the City of Valdosta.

Map: Manhole W0057, 2025-07-14 — Valdosta Sewers and WWALS Water Trails

On this context map you can see that manhole is almost halfway from Baytree Road north to Gornto Road.

The WaterGoat, where Suzy Hall tested and found E. coli Too Numerous to Count (TNTC), is just north of the northmost manhole on Sugar Creek.

Map: Context Manhole W0057, 2025-07-14 –Valdosta Sewers and WWALS Water Trails

City Responds to Sanitary Sewer Overflow in Sugar Creek

On Sunday, July 13, 2025, at approximately 3:00 p.m. a concerned citizen reported a possible issue to the Utilities department concerning Sugar Creek. Utilities Director Jason Barnes and a project contractor responded to the call and found the bypass pump had a mechanical failure and was offline. This failure allowed the sanitary sewer to back up and overflow into the Creek. The contractor was able to get the pumps back online by 5:00pm. At this time, we estimate that approximately 6,750 gallons had been discharged into the creek. We do urge people to stay out of Sugar Creek from Baytree Road to its confluence with the Withlacoochee River for the time being.

All appropriate regulatory and public health agencies have been notified and signage posted.

The City of Valdosta remains committed to preventing sanitary sewer overflows. The Utilities Department is actively modernizing aging infrastructure and implementing a range of programs and strategies to minimize and prevent such incidents within the city limits.

For more information about these initiatives or to learn how you can contribute, please contact the City of Valdosta Utilities Department, Environmental Division, at 229-259-3592.

There are more pictures of the Sugar Creek sewage bypass below.

-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/