Update 2025-01-10: Filthy Sugar Creek, OK Withlacoochee River, Clean Alapaha River 2025-01-09.
Does that look like sewage is spilling out of it?
![[Open sewer line in Sugar Creek, 700 feet north of RR trestle]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-01-07--sewer-break-sugar-creek/fbmany.jpg)
Open sewer line in Sugar Creek, 700 feet north of RR trestle
Looks to me like darker water coming from that pipe into Sugar Creek, when I was there yesterday. Continue reading
Update 2025-01-10: Filthy Sugar Creek, OK Withlacoochee River, Clean Alapaha River 2025-01-09.
Update 2025-01-08: Sewer line break, Sugar Creek 2025-01-07.
Congratulations to the City of Valdosta and Utilities Director Jason Barnes for finding the Sugar Creek sewer leak.
He told me this afternoon that a bypass pump is already in place will be in place soon.
Finding it became easier after WWALS water quality testing narrowed the potential location within 2,000 feet.
The press release does not say exactly where the leak is, but according to descriptions (between the railroad trestle and Gornto Road and in the creek), I think it is probably the pipe pictured.
![[Valdosta has found the Sugar Creek sewer leak 2025-01-06, After WWALS narrowed it within 2000 feet]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-01-06--valdosta-utilities-finds-sugar-creek-sewage-leak/fbmany.jpg)
Valdosta has found the Sugar Creek sewer leak 2025-01-06, After WWALS narrowed it within 2000 feet
Also, I confidently predict the estimated spilled gallons will be at least 10,000, as in a major spill, after these two months it’s been spilling.
Congratulations again to Valdosta Utilities for finding the leak!
All of the images below are by WWALS; the Valdosta press release contains no images.
City of Valdosta Responds to Sewer Pipe Washout Along Sugar Creek
On Monday, January 6, 2025, at approximately 11:20 a.m., City personnel conducted inspections along Sugar Creek to identify a potential source of recent high bacterial counts in the area and a possible source of inflow into the lift stations. During this inspection, City workers discovered a recent washout where a sewer collection pipe had shifted open, allowing sanitary sewer to flow into the creek and vice versa.
Continue reading
Update 2025-01-06: Valdosta has found the Sugar Creek sewage leak 2024-01-06.
Sugar Creek is still filthy at Gornto Road to the Withlacoochee River, and at a sewer line upstream. It’s not as bad farther upstream, so that sewer line could be the creek contamination source. It’s time to fix it.
The Withlacoochee River is also filthy 62 river miles downstream, only 4 miles from the Suwannee River.
Yet Valdosta Utilities reported OK water quality in between at GA 133 and at US 84.
Did the downstream contamination wash that far down from Sugar Creek after last Sunday’s rains? Or did the downstream contamination come from somewhere else, such as from Quitman, GA, down Okapilco Creek into the Withlacoochee River? Valdosta used to test on Okapilco Creek at US 84 and on the Withlacoochee River at Knights Ferry just below Okapilco Creek, but they stopped that a year ago, so we don’t know.
No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia. But sometimes reports come late or not at all.
This weekend, I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River downstream from it all the way to the Suwannee River. If you like cold, this weekend may be good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, on other rivers, such as the Alapaha, Santa Fe, Ichetucknee, or Suwannee.
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.
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/
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]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-12-26--wq/many.jpg)
Sugar Creek still filthy, Alapaha River OK 2024-12-26 Thunderstorms predicted this weekend
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.
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
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.
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
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?
Here is a chart of the numbers. Continue reading
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.
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]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-12-03--vld-orr-sewage-spill-reports/many.jpg)
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.”
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 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]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-10-14--ashburn-wtp-spill/many.jpg)
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
![[Filthy Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River 2025-01-02, No rain, no reported sewage spills. What is the contamination source?]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-01-02--wq/many.jpg)
![[Valdosta sewer mains crossing Sugar Creek between Baytree Road and Gornto Road towards the Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, GA]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-12-29--sugar-creek-sewer/fbmany.jpg)
![[Clean Alapaha, Little Rivers, OK Withlacoochee River 2024-12-19 Avoid Filthy Sugar Creek; Good paddling this weekend]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-12-19--wq/many.jpg)
![[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]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-12-17--where-are-the-sewage-spill-signs-valdosta/fbmany.jpg)
![[Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-12, dirty Franks Creek 2024-12-11, bad upstream Withlacoochee River, clean downstream 2024-12-11]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-12-12--wq/many.jpg)