People in the Foxborough subdivision have been complaining of smells coming from Lowndes County’s Foxborough Lift Station. Turns out there’s also a downstream water quality issue. We don’t know that’s because of that lift station, but it needs further investigation.

I went out there Sunday afternoon with one such neighbor. We could smell the lift station in the woods. Apparently hanging big urinal cakes on the fence was not adequate.

I also took water quality samples downstream, and the results were far worse than I expected. All results were several times the 1,000 cfu/100 mL alert limit for E. coli.

This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.

OK One Mile Branch 2026-01-13, Filthy Foxborough Lift Station Run and creek to Langdale Park Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2026-01-18

I took samples from the tiny run just downhill from the lift station, from the creek it runs into just before it joins the Withlacoochee River, and across the river and slightly downstream near Langdale Park Boat Ramp. Results: 5,533, 5,133, and 2,700. This may help explain why results at Langdale Park Boat Ramp are often higher than at the North Valdosta Road Bridge: this creek that comes in between those two points.

Now this does not mean that the lift station caused this contamination. There was rain that same morning. It could simply be first flush, which is a utilities term for when the first rain after a drought washes the woods that animals have been using as a latrine. In this case, probably plus domestic pets in Foxborough.

But these results warrant further investigation.

Please note that Lowndes County has its own sewer system, which has not reported a sewage spill in years. It is separate from Valdosta’s sewage system.

Also, the previous Tuesday, January 13, WWALS tester Scotti Jay noticed a strange coloration in One Mile Branch. He sampled at Wainwright Drive Bridge. The result was OK: 266 cfu/100 mL.

And Valdosta Utilities has finally posted its Withlacoochee River results from Wednesday last week: an OK 280 at GA 133 and a quite clean 50 at US 84. These were before the Sunday morning rain.

No new sewage spills have been reported since our last Friday water quality report in Georgia or Florida.

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results rainfall and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet.

Chart: Filthy Foxborough Lift Station Run to Withlacoochee River 2026-01-18 –WWALS Composite Spreadsheet of Water Quality Results
For context see:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing
 
Previous WWALS water quality reports are here:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results
 
Also follow that link for the underlying spreadsheet of water quality, sewage spills, and rainfall from Georgia and Florida sources for the Suwannee River Basin.

The numbers in the chart boxes indicate E. coli levels as colony-forming units per 100 mililiters (cfu/100 mL), according to Georgia Adopt-A-Stream bacterial monitoring protocols:
Zero (0) is what we want to see and often we do on the Alapaha and upstream on the Suwannee Rivers.
From 1-125 is within long-term average limits according to U.S. EPA and Georgia and Florida state agencies.
From 126-409 long-term is not good, and is likely to make some people sick.
From 410-999 is likely to make some people sick; try not to get that water on you.
From 1,000 and up: high alert; best not to get close to that water without gloves; wash clothes afterward.

The letters before the numbers indicate the source of the datapoint, as in W100 means 100 cfu/100 mL found by a WWALS tester.

W: WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS) Suwannee Riverkeeper
V: Valdosta, GA
L: Lowndes County, GA
Q: Quitman, GA
SGRC: Southern Georgia Regional Commission
SRWMD: Suwannee River Water Management District
FDOH: Florida Department of Health
FDEP: Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Rain: From USGS and UGA and other gauges.

One Mile Branch

Here are Scotti and Sara’s plates for their Tuesday sample of One Mile Branch at Wainwright Drive. One Mile Branch runs into Sugar Creek, then to the Withlacoochee River, downstream from Langdale Park.

Plates, Wainwright Drive, 2026-01-13 –Scotti Jay for WWALS

Foxborough Lift Station and Run

This lift station is behind 4045 Foxborough Blvd., Valdosta, GA 31602, in unincorporated Lowndes County.

Foxborough Lift Station, 2026:01:18 17:02:14, –jsq for WWALS 30.8897203, -83.3265366

The sign so you can read it.

Sign: Foxborough Lift Station, 2026:01:18 17:02:23, –jsq for WWALS 30.8897203, -83.3265366

Here’s the Foxborough Lift Station highlighted towards the southeast corner of Foxborough subdivision.

Map: Foxborough Subdivision, 2026-01-20 in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT)

The big urinal cakes on the fence did not really disquise the smell.

Urinal cakes at Foxborough Lift Station, 2026:01:18 17:04:20, –jsq for WWALS 30.8895328, -83.3264517

On this VALOR GIS map you can see green lines for Lowndes County sewer lines converging on the site of Foxborough Lift Station.

Map: Foxborough Subdivision, 2026-01-20 –VALORGIS

You can see the lift station enclosure drains to the west.

Foxborough Lift Station Drains Southwest 2026-01-18 –jsq for WWALS

This is where I sampled, downhill from where Foxborough Lift Station drains.

Standing water, Foxborough Lift Station Run, 2026:01:18 15:41:24, –jsq for WWALS 30.8888781, -83.3262773

The results were not pretty, 5,533 cfu/100 mL, more than five times the alert limit.

Plates, Foxborough Lift Station Run, 2026-01-18 –jsq for WWALS

Corinne Coleman Creek

That Run drains into what we call Corinne Coleman Creek, which comes down across North Valdosta Road west of Foxborough, and also has other tributaries that come out of Foxborough.

Looking down Corinne Coleman Creek to the Withlacoochee River, 2026:01:18 16:25:12, –jsq for WWALS 30.8884486, -83.3246801

VALORGIS has a better track for this creek than the USGS track used in the WWALS WLRWT map. None of these maps show the run from Foxborough Lift Station to Corinne Coleman Creek.

Map: Foxborough Lift Station, 2026-01-20 –VALORGIS

Here’s where that creek joins the Withlacoochee River, upstream from Langdale Park Boat Ramp.

Movie: CC Creek Confluence with Withlacoochee River across from Langdale Park, 2026:01:18 16:27:46, –jsq for WWALS 30.8884486, -83.3246801

These results were also not pretty: 5,133 cfu/100 mL, also more than five times the alert limit.

Plates, Corinne Coleman Creek, 2026-01-18 –jsq for WWALS

Withlacoochee River

Here’s where I tested the Withlacoochee River in Langdale Park.

Withlacoochee River, Langdale Park, 2026:01:18 17:46:48, –jsq for WWALS 30.8875943, -83.3241279

That’s slightly downstream from where Corinne Coleman Creek enters from the other bank.

Upstream towards CC Creek, around that bend, Withlacoochee River, 2026:01:18 17:46:53, –jsq for WWALS 30.8875943, -83.3241279

And slightly upstream from Langdale Park Boat Ramp, so I could get the sample bucket into the current.

Downstream to LP Boat Ramp just over that sandbar, Withlacoochee River, 2026:01:18 17:46:50, –jsq for WWALS 30.8875943, -83.3241279

Here’s where Langdale Park Boat Ramp meets the Withlacoochee River.

Bottom of Langdale Park Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River, 2026:01:18 17:47:48, –jsq for WWALS 30.8875140, -83.3240592

Here are the WWALS WLRWT signs next to Langdale Park Boat Ramp.

WLRWT Signs, Langdale Park Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River, 2026:01:18 17:49:29, –jsq for WWALS 30.8877655, -83.3239352

Here are the only slightly better river results: 2,700 cfu/100 mL, more than twice the alert limit.

Plates, Langdale Park Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River, 2026-01-18 –jsq for WWALS

Here are Valdosta Utilities’ only two test results for last week. They were before the rain.

Table: River Results, 2026-01-14 –Valdosta Utilities

Water quality testing training and funding

WWALS testers Suzy Hall and Cindy Vedas reviewed the WWALS results. Such review is part of the WWALS standard ongoing testing quality analysis.

If you want to get trained by WWALS water quality testing trainer Gretchen Quarterman to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

Thanks to Joe Brownlee and Georgia Power for another generous grant for water quality testing equipment and materials.

You or your organization could also donate to the WWALS volunteer water quality testing program.

 -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/

Short Link: