The irony: Valdosta’s warning sign is still up at Troupville Boat Ramp after its six spills weekend before last, yet Valdosta’s own weekly water quality testing stations almost all measured below the state limits for Fecal coliform and E. coli.
The exception was at Continue reading
Not just Valdosta: Tifton spilled two places, and Quitman one, in the most recent rains. Those cities were not in the data available online from GA-EPD yesterday, but they are in the online data today.
But Valdosta spilled the most sewage and from the most locations: six places, not just the one Valdosta told the public. Plus we finally have a total for the previous WWTP spill, and all the others from the beginning of December, and those totals are not pretty.
Photo: Julie Bowland, of Valdosta sewage spill sign at Troupville Boat Ramp, 21 December 2018.
That Valdosta sewage spill sign is stuck loosely into a hole WWALS dug to plant our Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT) signs, which someone has yet again pulled up and thrown into the river, but I digress….
First let’s look at the city people in Florida ignore: Tifton, Georgia, the second largest city in the Suwannee River Basin (that’s right: in both Georgia and Florida). Tifton had Continue reading
Update 2021-09-11:
New URL for GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report:
https://epd.georgia.gov/watershed-protection-branch/sewage-spills-report
Well, this is a welcome Christmas present, GA-EPD!
Online posting of the statewide Georgia spreadsheet of sewage spills:
https://epd.georgia.gov/sewage-spills-report
Sewage Spills Report
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) provides information on municipal and industrial sewage spills reported to EPD. The list covers the most recent 30-day period and is updated each business day.
Note: A “zero” in the quantity field indicates Continue reading
Bacterial levels at all stations Valdosta tests dropped this week, according to the Wednesday 12 Dec 2018 test results returned for a WWALS open records request.
The only station above the 200 cfu/100 ml Fecal coliform limit was at Continue reading
Another mysterious rise of bacterial counts at Horn Bridge, at Mozell Spells, near State Line Ramp, Withlacoochee River, in the latest data from Valdosta, from Wednesday, December 5, 2018, obtained as usual through open records request.
The Alapahoochee River at the GA-FL line measured ten times the EPA limit on Fecal coliform again this Wednesday, November 28, 2018.
It does not seem to be coming downriver from Valdosta. Continue reading
Suddenly, all the fecal coliform readings are down. Was there a first flush from the rain on November 14 that caused the high readings of that day, and all that washed down the rivers within a week?
At US 41 (North Valdosta Road), the Withlacoochee River was actually in minor flood several of the intervening days, according to the USGS US 41 (Valdosta) Gauge. Continue reading
Twenty five times the state limit for Fecal coliform could be a problem. What got into the Alapahoochee River last week?
If you want to help find out what’s getting into our rivers, you can Continue reading
Was there rain Wednesday? That might explain the sudden spikes at US 41 on the Withlacoochee River, at GA 133 on the Little River, and at State Line on the Withlacoochee River. We can guess that the rains Thursday and Friday (today) have washed away whatever that very odd spike was at the state line.
Thanks to Valdosta Utilities and Valdosta City Clerk Teresa Bolden for sending this Wednesday’s Valdosta water quality testing data before the end of Friday. For more contact, see https://wwals.net/issues/vww/.
It’s a very odd spike, because Continue reading
Valdosta’s bacterial counts are always low at State Line Ramp (Mozell Spells), where we moved the WWALS Boomerang paddle race from Georgia to Florida and back.
Things were generally better last week in the Withlacoochee Basin, except for the Little River at GA 133, just above Troupville Boat Ramp. Continue reading