Tag Archives: VWW

Sugar Creek sewer lines, Valdosta, GA 2024-12-29

Update 2024-01-04: Filthy Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River 2025-01-02.

Where is the contamination in Sugar Creek coming from in Valdosta, Georgia?

Apparently mostly from somewhere between Baytree Road and Gornto Road, according to recent water quality results.

One way to narrow down the source is to collect water quality samples at more places between those city roads.

And likely places to check would be just below where sewer lines cross Sugar Creek.

[Valdosta sewer mains crossing Sugar Creek between Baytree Road and Gornto Road towards the Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, GA]
Valdosta sewer mains crossing Sugar Creek between Baytree Road and Gornto Road towards the Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, GA

It would be very useful to know if anybody has seen or smelled sewage just west of Sugar Creek on Spring Creek Circle, Wooddale Drive, Westbrook Circle, or on South Sherwood Drive.

Or just east of Sugar Creek, on Park Lane or the west ends of W. Park Ave. or McRee Drive.

Or anybody just upstream (south) of Gornto Road at Outdoor Living or Window World or the liquor store.

Here’s how to report it to WWALS and to the City of Valdosta:
https://wwals.net/report/

Continue reading →

Sugar Creek still filthy, Alapaha River OK 2024-12-26

Update 2024-01-04: Filthy Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River 2025-01-02.

Update 2024-12-29: Sugar Creek sewer lines, Valdosta, GA 2024-12-29.

Sugar Creek is still filthy from Gornto Road to the Withlacoochee River.

Rain is predicted for this weekend, which will probably make it worse.

The Alapaha River is OK at Sheboggy Boat Ramp near Alapaha, Georgia.

We have no other river results, due to the holidays.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.

No flooding is shown on any river gauge in the Suwannee River Basin. The Santa Fe River at Fort White is still too low to paddle.

So if you like cold and wet, this weekend may be good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, as long as you avoid the vicinity of Sugar Creek and get out before the big rain Sunday.

Please note that the WWALS cleanup at Wainwright Drive on Sugar Creek for this Sunday has been rescheduled because of predicted rain. The new date is Saturday, January 25, 2025.

[Sugar Creek still filthy, Alapaha River OK 2024-12-26 Thunderstorms predicted this weekend]
Sugar Creek still filthy, Alapaha River OK 2024-12-26 Thunderstorms predicted this weekend

Alapaha River

WWALS tester Heather Brasell for Thursday got OK results at the outflow creek from the Alapaha, Georgia, wastewater plant: 267 cfu/100 mL, which is below the 410 one-time-test limit.

She got 233 for the Alapaha River above Sheboggy Boat Ramp, also OK.

Sugar Creek

WWALS tester John S. Quarterman drew four Sugar Creek samples on Thursday.

At Baytree Road, the results were OK, with 200 cfu/100 mL.

At Gornto Road, we got Too Numerous to Count (TNTC). Continue reading →

Clean Alapaha River, OK Withlacoochee River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-19

Update 2024-12-27: Sugar Creek still filthy, Alapaha River OK 2024-12-26.

With no rain since last week, Sugar Creek is better, but still has too much E. coli at the WaterGoat near the Withlacoochee River. River water dilutes it below there, and upstream also the Withlacoochee River is clean. The Little and Alapaha Rivers tested clean.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida, but in Georgia, Ashburn had yet another small spill.

No flooding is shown on any river gauge in the Suwannee River Basin. The Santa Fe River at Fort White is actually too low to paddle.

So if you like cold, this weekend seems good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, as long as you avoid the vicinity of Sugar Creek.

[Clean Alapaha, Little Rivers, OK Withlacoochee River 2024-12-19 Avoid Filthy Sugar Creek; Good paddling this weekend]
Clean Alapaha, Little Rivers, OK Withlacoochee River 2024-12-19 Avoid Filthy Sugar Creek; Good paddling this weekend

Alapaha River

Ashburn reported quickly for once that it had a 2,000-gallon sewage spill into Hat Creek from the usual location of Rockhouse Road and Sylvia Drive. This time the cause was “Equipment failure.” Get a grip, Ashburn! Continue reading →

Where are the sewage spill signs, Valdosta? 2024-12-17

Update 2024-12-21: Clean Alapaha River, OK Withlacoochee River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-19.

Update 2024-12-21: Malia Thomas of WTXL TV at closed Gornto Road bridge over Sugar Creek 2024-12-20.

Yesterday I went to the locations of all the recent creek water quality tests in Valdosta. No sewage spill warning signs were posted at any of them.

I understand that it can be difficult to find the cause of this ongoing contamination of these creeks weeks after the flash flood.

But how much can it cost to plant sewage spill warning signs?

There were no signs at Wainwright Drive or W Gordon Street on One Mile Branch, where Valdosta got 2,040 and 1,045 cfu/100 mL E. coli for Tuesday last week. The alert limit is 1,000. Not even where the Azalea City Trail goes along One Mile Branch at Wainwright Drive.

Not at St. Augustine Road on Hightower Creek where Valdosta got 1,120, nor at Baytree Road nor at the Norfolk Southern Railroad trestle sewer line on Sugar Creek where WWALS got 13,433 and 6,533 for Wednesday of last week. The higher the numbers, the more likely someone will get sick, either from the E. coli itself, or from other contaminants in sewage.

Not at Gornto Road on Sugar Creek where Valdosta got 11,900 and WWALS got TNTC, Too Numerous to Count. And not at Sugar Creek in front of Berta’s Kitchen, where WWALS got TNTC, and not at the bottom of Berta’s parking lot near the WaterGoat.

Also not at Langdale Park on the Withlacoochee River, even though Valdosta has previously posted a sewage spill sign there when there was Withlacoochee River contamination, such as the 695 Valdosta got at GA 133 for Tuesday of last week. The one-time limit is 410.

I did find one sewage spill sign: facedown in the dirt between Berta’s parking lot and the WaterGoat.

How about some sewage spill warning signs, Valdosta, planted where people can see them?

[Where are the sewage spill signs, Valdosta, E. coli counts remain sky-high 2024-12-17, One Mile Branch, Hightower Creek, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River]
Where are the sewage spill signs, Valdosta, E. coli counts remain sky-high 2024-12-17, One Mile Branch, Hightower Creek, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River

Here is a chart of the numbers. Continue reading →

Filthy Sugar Creek, dirty Franks Creek, bad upstream Withlacoochee River, clean downstream 2024-12-12

Update 2024-12-21: Clean Alapaha River, OK Withlacoochee River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-19.

Update 2024-12-21: Malia Thomas of WTXL TV at closed Gornto Road bridge over Sugar Creek 2024-12-20.

Update 2024-12-18: Where are the sewage spill signs, Valdosta? 2024-12-17.

WWALS testing showed Sugar Creek got even more contaminated after the rains Wednesday. Valdosta Utilities testiong showed Hightower Creek and One Mile Branch were bad again, and the Withlacoochee River too high in E. coli at GA 133.

WWALS tests showed Franks Creek bad, upstream from the Little River.

WWALS water quality results downstream at Holly Point for Wednesday showed the Withlacoochee River clean there. But upstream contamination from the recent rain had not had time to get there.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia. But this E. coli contamination has to be coming from somewhere.

No flooding is shown on any river gauge in the Suwannee River Basin.

So if you like cold, this weekend seems good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, as long as you avoid the vicinity of Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near GA 133, and possibly the Little River downstream of Franks Creek.

Or join us Sunday evening for the Banks Lake Full Cold Moon Paddle, 2024-12-15 and, also at Banks Lake, raffle drawing for the Skimmer 128 Hurricane kayak.

[Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-12, dirty Franks Creek 2024-12-11, bad upstream Withlacoochee River, clean downstream 2024-12-11]
Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-12, dirty Franks Creek 2024-12-11, bad upstream Withlacoochee River, clean downstream 2024-12-11

Sugar Creek

Continue reading →

Valdosta sewage spill reports to GA-EPD from November 7 through December 3, 2024

Update 2024-12-13: Filthy Sugar Creek, dirty Franks Creek, bad upstream Withlacoochee River, clean downstream 2024-12-12.

I got part of what I asked for in an open records request to the City of Valdosta: “All sewage spill reports sent to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) on or after November 6, 2024, through December 2, 2024”. Those provide some extra detail, and some hints of fixes being planed for these problems.

[Valdosta sewage spill reports to GA-EPD, from November 7 through December 3, 2024]
Valdosta sewage spill reports to GA-EPD, from November 7 through December 3, 2024

I did not get the rest of it: “together with all associated correspondence between the City of Valdosta, GA-EPD, and other parties including state agencies in Georgia and Florida and relevant landowners.”

The December Meadowbrook Drive spill into Two Mile Branch

Let’s look at the most recent spill in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report, and compare that to what Valdosta Utilities sent to GA-EPD. Continue reading →

Ashburn sewage spills, October and November 2024 in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report 2024-10-14

Ashburn still needs to get a grip on its sewage spills. More timely reporting would also be good. One of them showed up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report a month late, and the other a week after the spill.

I missed seeing these Ashburn spills when they first appeared, due to a glitch in network access for the WWALS software that retrieves and interprets these reports daily.

[Ashburn sewage spills, October and November 2024, in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report 2024-11-13]
Ashburn sewage spills, October and November 2024

It’s not clear why it says “Wet weather” for October 14, since the only rain records I can find for Ashburn, Georgia, say it was clear and sunny that day and the day before. There was a fatal car wreck on I-75 in Ashburn on October 14, but the news report says nothing about wet weather.

Of course, Ashburn could have had its own flash flood event.

The November 7 Ashburn spill coincides with the Valdosta flash flood, and some of that rain did extend farther north. Continue reading →

Clean Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers: Sugar Creek still nasty 2024-12-05

Update 2024-12-13: Filthy Sugar Creek, dirty Franks Creek, bad upstream Withlacoochee River, clean downstream 2024-12-12.

WWALS water quality results for Thursday show the Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers clean upstream, and for Wednesday show the Withlacoochee clean downstream.

But the last results we have for Sugar Creek, from Valdosta Utilities for Tuesday, show Sugar Creek at Gornto Road still way too high in E. coli.

There has been no rain to speak of for a week, so rain is not washing contamination into the creeks.

It is very hard to see what could be causing such Sugar Creek E. coli numbers other than a sewage spill.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia since the small Valdosta spill into Two Mile Branch on Meadowbrook Drive on November 26, which cannot be causing the Sugar Creek contamination at Gornto Road.

No flooding is shown on any river gauge in the Suwannee River Basin.

So if you like cold, this weekend seems good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, as long as you avoid the vicinity of Sugar Creek.

[Clean Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers 2024-12-05 Sugar Creek still nasty]
Clean Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers 2024-12-05 Sugar Creek still nasty

Alapaha River

Continue reading →

Videos: Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council meeting in Valdosta 2024-11-21

Water withdrawals in the SSRWPC region are almost entirely agricultural, noted Mark Masters of the Georgia Water Planning & Policy Center, Albany State University.

[Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council 2024-11-21, at Wiregrass Tech, Valdosta, Georgia]
Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council 2024-11-21, at Wiregrass Tech, Valdosta, Georgia

This was at the Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council meeting at Valdosta Tech in Valdosta, Georgia, November 21, 2024. Continue reading →

Horrid Sugar Creek 2024-12-02

Update 2024-12-06: Clean Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers: Sugar Creek still nasty 2024-12-05.

Update 2024-12-05: Valdosta has published their results for Tuesday 2024-12-03. Lower than ours at St. Augustine Road (380), but way higher at Gornto Road: 12,700, more than a dozen times the 1,000 alert limit. There has been no rain. Is there some other explanation than an intermittent sewage leak between St. Augustine Road and Gornto? -jsq
https://www.valdostacity.com/utilities/river-stream-water-quality-data/nov-2024-overflow-testing-results

Down at the WaterGoat was the worst place for E. coli on Sugar Creek on Monday: more than three times the alert limit at 3,200 cfu/100 mL.

It is not all coming from Two Mile Branch: we also got bad results upstream.

[Still very bad 2024-12-02, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River, Where is the sewage spill or spills?]
Still very bad 2024-12-02, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River, Where is the sewage spill or spills?

Some of the colonies are faint, but they’re blue with bubbles, which is what we count. Continue reading →