These 120 sheets of detailed 2009 Construction Plans for the Brooks County Industrial Park contain a clue to how the sewer system there is connected to Quitman.
It turns out the clue is on the 2006 maps, too, but less obvious.
Stay tuned for that connection.
To interpret these sheets, it is useful to know that Prospect Drive is what appears on googlemaps as Fritzke Drive. Aviagen’s chicken incubation plant is south of Prospect Drive, east of GA 333. Continue reading
Congratulations to Jason Barnes on being promoted to Valdosta Director of Utilities after a year as Acting Director.
He has a lot of work left for him by previous city administrations, both in drinking water quality and a planned new well site, and of course in fixing Valdosta’s chronic sewer leaks, overflows, and spills, while expanding the sewer system to accomodate new industry.
The Withlacoochee River gets the most news, because most of Valdosta’s spills have been into creeks that flow into that river. But the collapsed sewer main next to Knights Creek ends up in Mud Swamp Creek, the Alapahoochee River, and the Alapaha River. The city seems to have finally gotten a handle on that one, having replaced most of that sewer main, with the rest to be scheduled as regular repairs instead of expensive emergency fixes.
Nobody is going to be happy until there are no more spills, but I have seen fewer spills that did not last as long since Jason Barnes has been in charge.
About the first thing I heard from him once he became Acting Director was that a sewage spill had contaminated Sugar Creek, so we rerouted from a boating cleanup to an onland cleanup. Jason Barnes showed up in person at that cleanup, where we thanked him for telling us. Continue reading
Update 2024-07-04: Brooks County Industrial Park Maps 2009-03-03.
Update 2024-06-21: Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Santa Fe Rivers, problem on One Mile Branch 2024-06-19.
Here’s a map of the sewer system in the Brooks County Industrial Park, plus maps of the water and road systems. These maps were sent by the Brooks County Industrial Authority a couple of years ago in response to a WWALS open records request.
![[Brooks County Industrial Park, Sewer System 2006-05-09, Site Plan, Grading, Drainage, Water]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2006-05-09--brooks-county-industrial-park/fbmany.jpg)
Brooks County Industrial Park, Sewer System 2006-05-09, Site Plan, Grading, Drainage, Water
What this industrial park sewer system map does not show is: how does it connect to the rest of Quitman’s sewer system?
How Quitman’s sewer system works and where it is important, because Quitman has had quite a few reported sewage spills; see Quitman: Noncompliance, 9 effluent violations, 5 sewage spills, 11 monitoring violations, 1 reporting violation –GA-EPD Nov 2022 – Oct 2023. Quitman is upstream of the Withlacoochee River, and some of its former spills have quite likely travelled all the way down the Suwannee River to the Gulf of Mexico. Continue reading
Update 2024-06-15: Brooks County Industrial Park: Site Plan, Grading, Drainage, Water, Sewer 2006-05-09.
These are some sewer and water system maps obtained from the City of Quitman in January 2022 in response to a WWALS open records request.
The March 1986 map by Smith and Gillespie Engineers, Inc. is the easiest to read. Unfortunately, most of the numbers of the lift stations seem to have changed since then.
![[Lift Station Scan March 1986]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-01-03--quitman-utility-map/Lift-Station-Scan-1986-0001.jpg)
Lift Station Scan March 1986
PDF
The most informative map is dated March 28, 2019, by Tindall Enterprises, Inc. It has updated numbers for the lift stations that may be current. This matters for determining where reported sewage spills are, and what watersheds they drain into. Continue reading
Update 2024-02-24: Clean Withlacoochee, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers and Franks Creek 2024-02-21.
With this new testing lab, will Valdosta resume testing downstream at Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State LIne on the Withlacoochee River, and a US 84 on Okapilco Creek?
Meanwhile, with the current head of Utilities, Valdosta is more timely in posting its upstream water quality results.
![[WWTP in WLRWT and Valdosta Utilities]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-03-05--wwtp-testing-lab/igmany.jpg)
WWTP in WLRWT and Valdosta Utilities
Received yesterday.
PRESS RELEASE
DATE: Thursday, February 22, 2024
CONTACT: Sharah’ Denton, Community Relations & Marketing Manager
Telephone: (229) 259-3548
sdenton@valdostacity.comRibbon Cutting Ceremony for Withlacoochee Lab Facility
The City of Valdosta is pleased to announce the inauguration of its new Withlacoochee (WPCP) Lab Facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for March 5 at 10 am. The event will take place at the plant’s location, 3182 Wetherington Lane.
Continue reading
Update 2023-07-24: Redesignation as Recreational, Withlacoochee River, GA 37 to Tiger Creek 2023-07-19
Suwannee Riverkeeper about Valdosta sewage spills yesterday on WTXL.TV, “It’s bad for people, it’s bad for wild life, it’s also bad for the economy. Valdosta is trying to be a place for ecotourism, and you’re not really helping that if you have sewage spills, if you have trash in the creeks and rivers,” [John S.] Quarterman said.
Come to Sugar Creek behind the Salty Snapper this morning at 9AM and hear more.
![[Reporter, Suwannee Riverkeeper, Valdosta Utilities Director 2023-07-21]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-07-21--valdosta-sewage-wtxl/many.jpg)
Reporter, Suwannee Riverkeeper, Valdosta Utilities Director 2023-07-21
Ariel Schiller, ABC27 WTXL, July 21, 2023, City of Valdosta working to fix outdated sewer system, Continue reading
Eagle-eye WWALS member Amy Hope Jackson spotted trucks next to Bevel Creek off of Loch Laurel Road near Lake Park, in Lowndes County Georgia, on GA 376, on September 2, 2020. This is upstream from Jumping Gully Creek and the Withlacoochee River.
![[Location, Bevel Creek Lift Station, manhole collapse, trucks, RPI]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-09-02--ga-376-pump-station/many.jpg)
Location, Bevel Creek Lift Station, manhole collapse, trucks, RPI
Turns out they were implementing the $82,000.00 Bevel Creek Manhole Emergency Repair approved by the Lowndes County Commission on June 22, 2020.
This seemed likely since one of the trucks said RPI, and the winning bidder was RPI Underground. I confirmed with Lowndes County Utilities Director Steve Stalvey that this was indeed that repair.
Please remember Lowndes County has a separate sewer system from Valdosta, and Lowndes County has not spilled sewage in many months, apparently due to proactively upgrading the county sewer system. Continue reading
![[Construction Plans, Brooks County Industrial Park 2009-03-03, DeVane PlanEng, Brooks County Industrial Authority]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2009-03-03--brookscoda-maps/fbmany.jpg)
![[Jason Barnes, Valdosta, Utilities Director 2024-07-01, Water and sewer systems, Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-07-01--vld-utilities-public-works/fbmany.jpg)