Tag Archives: Infiltration and Inflow

Valdosta reports seven sewage spills, two ongoing 2024-11-08

Update 2024-11-12: Valdosta sewage spills contained after flash flood 2024-11-11.

Update 2024-11-08: Manholes spewing sewage into One Mile Branch at Wainwright Drive, Valdosta, GA 2024-11-08.

Received via email at 11:11 AM this morning: “Although most of the discharge is primarily stormwater, residents are urged to avoid contact with rivers, creeks, streams, or tributaries until further notice.”

[Seven sewage spills, two ongoing, Valdosta, GA, including the Withlacoochee WWTP 2024-11-08]
Seven sewage spills, two ongoing, Valdosta, GA, including the Withlacoochee WWTP 2024-11-08

WWALS has some evidence that there is substantial E. coli in the water. Stay tuned for that.

Meanwhile, it looks like adding another catch basin at Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) would have been a good idea after all.

And I’d like to know, why did the City of Valdosta only inform the public about these spills more than a day after they started?

This is not a criticism of the Valdosta Utilities Department or its Director, who I continue to maintain is doing much more than his predecessors.

This is a question for the City Manager, Mayor, and Council.

Valdosta City Schools informed the public quickly about road closures. (Nevermind why Schools and not Public Works or the City’s Public Information Officer.)

Why did the City not inform the public as quickly about sewage getting into the waterways?

Everybody knows there are spills. WWALS already posted pictures and video of the Knob Hill Road spill. But we didn’t know about all of them.

So, tell us, top of the Valdosta City government, why didn’t you inform everyone?

If it’s appropriate today to warn people to stay away from the waterways, why wasn’t that appropriate yesterday?

Will you inform the public next time?

There will be a next time. Sure, this flash flood as a side effect of Hurricane Rafael is unusual. But so was Cat 2 Hurricane Helene. And Hurricane Debby before that. And Hurricane Idalia before that.

None of us can pretend any of that won’t happen again, or worse. The City of Valdosta can keep us all better informed.

City of Valdosta Experiences Significant Rain Event and Flooding, Resulting in Overwhelmed Sanitary Sewer and Stormwater Systems

Continue reading

Yet another Valdosta E. Park Ave. sewage spill near Knights Creek 2023-12-11

Update 2023-12-20: End date and waterway affected of Valdosta 425,000 gallon sewage spill 2023-12-11.

Update 2023-12-19: Valdosta reports to GA-EPD about two recent sewage spills 2023-12-02.

Update 2023-12-15: Videos: Testing three sites in Florida and Georgia, Withlacoochee River 2023-12-14.

Are we going back to the bad old days of Valdosta sewage spill reports so vague you can’t tell where they are, and reported many days later?

Valdosta spilled almost half a million gallons of sewage Monday, didn’t get around to telling the public until today, and then only with a press release that doesn’t say which part of town or which waterway was affected.

[Spills into Knights Creek, Alapaha River Basin, and One Mile Branch, Withlacoochee River Basin]
Spills into Knights Creek, Alapaha River Basin, and One Mile Branch, Withlacoochee River Basin

Oh, and Valdosta had another spill two weeks ago that was only reported to GA-EPD on this Tuesday, and so far as I’ve seen not to the public at all.

The Valdosta press release for the big spill of Monday says it was “in the 1800 Block of Park Avenue.” 1800 West Park Avenue is next to Sugar Creek in the Withlacoochee River Basin. 1800 East Park Avenue is the vague location previously reported for many sewer spills related to the collapsed sewer main near Knights Creek in the Alapaha River Basin.

The press release does not name any creek, so we can’t tell by that. We can infer by the rest of the sentence that E. Park Ave. was meant, because “inspecting manholes and sewer lines on the current Bypass and Sanitary Sewer line upgrades project” probably refers to the work related to those previous spills. Continue reading