We received this notice from a concerned citizen.

It’s much like the one we posted back in 2015.

https://wwals.net/?p=15277

Another Valdosta drinking water violation, Again HAA5, Minor, 2026-01-15

PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER
HAAS VIOLATION AT City of Valdosta Water System

Water System Name: City of Valdosta (GA 1850002)
County Lowndes,
Date Distributed: 1/15/2026
Contact Person: _ Phillip Walker, Water Plant Superintendent
Phone: (229) 333 — 188]
Mailing Address; P.O. Box 1125, 1710 Myrtle Street
City: __ Valdosta ___ State: __GA Zip:

Our community water system recently violated a drinking water standard. Although this is not an emergency, as our customers, you have the right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we have done to correct this situation.

Violation ID Compliance Period Site # | Analyte | Concentration MCL
2026-12548 | 3Q2025 – 07/01/2025 – 09/30/2025 | 502 | HAAS | 0.072 mg/L | 0.060 mo/L |

What should I do?

There is nothing you need to do. The violation does not pose a threat to the quality of the water supplied. Residents should not be alarmed and do not need to seek alternative water supplies. We are taking corrective action to ensure that adequate monitoring and reporting will be maintained. Although this is not the case in Valdosta with this incident, some people who drink water containing Total Haloacetic Acids (HAAS) above the maximum contaminant level (MCL) over many years experience problems with their liver, kidneys, or central nervous system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer. In those incidents, if you have a severely compromised immune system, have an infant, are pregnant, or are elderly, you could be at increased risk and should seek advice from your health care providers about drinking the water. However, the HAAS levels in Valdosta’s water were minimal and have been corrected.

What happened? What is being done?

HAAS is a disinfection byproduct (DBP) formed when naturally occurring organics in water react with disinfectants such as Chlorine and Ozone. Many factors can influence the formation of DBPs. They include but are not limited to the age of the water in distribution systems, the buildup of biofilms in distribution systems, and increased water temperatures.

To prevent the formation of DBPs, the Utilities Department has employed a comprehensive water quality management program. It includes a recurring schedule of centralized flushing to improve DBP precursor removal and adjustments of disinfectant feed rates. Steps are also being taken to manage water storage tank levels to prevent stagnation, elevated water temperatures and water quality degradation. This is in addition to our water quality improvement project recently completed to improve our ozonation process and our project to clean and disinfect our three one-million-gallon potable water ground storage tanks.

These actions have greatly improved the water quality in the distribution system. Though these low levels do not pose a threat to the quality of the water supplied, the city feels it is important that all water quality information be made available,

For more information, please contact the City of Valdosta Utilities Department at (229) 259-3592.

*To ensure transparency on our part, please share this information with all the other people ho drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses), otherwise, there is nothing you need fo do concerning this event.

SID: 1850002; Violation ID; 2026-12548

HAA5 Violation at City of Valdosta Water System, 2026-01-15 –City of Valdosta

There’s more about Valdosta’s water drinking system on its own website:

https://www.valdostacity.com/utilities/water-treatment-plant

There are links to annual Water Quality Reports, although the most recent one posted is from 2024.

Here’s some of the explanation WWALS posted in 2015:

What’s the difference between HAAs in general and HAA5? The latter are:

five regulated haloacetic acids (HAA5): chloro-, dichloro-, and trichloro-acetic acid (CAA, DCAA, and TCAA); bromo-, and dibromo-acetic acid (BAA, and DBAA)

Source: Removal of haloacetic acids by nanofiltration, by Chalatip R1, Chawalit R, Nopawan R., J Environ Sci (China). 2009;21(1):96-100. Apparently there are also HAA3, HAA6, and HAA9, but HAA5 appears to be what EPA requires regulating int he U.S. Going to Labrador, Canada, for an explanation of where HAAs come from:

Haloacetic acids (HAAs) are a type of chlorination disinfection by-product (CDBP) that are formed when the chlorine used to disinfect drinking water reacts with naturally occurring organic matter (NOM) in water. Haloacetic acids are a relatively new disinfection by-product.

Why would Valdosta have naturally occuring organic matter in its water wells? Well, the Withlacoochee River leaks into the water table at Shadrick Sink near Cherry Creek, and Valdosta already sunk its wells twice as deep to get under that river water. Maybe they didn’t get under all of it. Or maybe there’s some other source.

After all, in the same Floridan Aquifer various organic solids are coming up in wells, including salt, most likely sea salt, right up to the state line. All of south Georgia and Florida is on top of permeable limestone, with cracks vertical and horizontal, so surface water interchanges with groundwater.

 -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/

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