Tag Archives: Willow Creek

Sewage Spill, 1103 Golden Road West, Tifton, GA 2026-08-05

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Update 2026-08-07: Clean Withlacoochee, Little, and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-08-05.

Tifton Utilities reported a sewage spill of unknown gallons into they don’t know where, because of “High Levels of Inflow,” that started August 5, 2026, reported by GA-EPD on August 6.

They reported it at 1103 Golden Road West, Tifton, Georgia. That’s an apparently abandoned house with a broken window. The spill could be from that property. Or it could be from the manhole in the middle of the road.

[Sewage Spill, 1103 Golden Road West, Tifton, GA, 2026-08-05, GA-EPD 2026-08-06]
Sewage Spill, 1103 Golden Road West, Tifton, GA, 2026-08-05, GA-EPD 2026-08-06

Either is uphill from what we call Willow Creek, which flows through Tanzer Creek into the Little River just downstream from US 319.

Don’t you wish sewage utilities would make risk management plans for high rainfall? Continue reading →

Samantha Carr, WWALS Intern and water quality tester 2025-01-10

Update 2025-01-17: OK Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-15.

Update 2025-01-13: Sugar Creek still filthy Saturday in Valdosta test results 2025-01-11.

WWALS has a new intern, who will also do water quality testing in Tifton, Georgia, on the New and Little Rivers.

[New WWALS Intern, Samantha Carr, Southern Regional Technical College, Tifton, Georgia]
New WWALS Intern, Samantha Carr, Southern Regional Technical College, Tifton, Georgia

New WWALS Intern Samantha Carr passed the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream (AAS) Chemical and Bacterial training. Continue reading →

Tifton 7,000-gallon sewage spill, Golden Road above Little River 2024-02-12

Update 2024-02-23: Ribbon cutting for Water Quality Testing Lab at Valdosta Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant 2024-03-05.

A major spill takes 10,000 gallons, so Tifton spilled less than that at 7,000 gallons, making it a minor spill.

[Tifton Golden Road 7,000-gallon sewage spill into Little River 2024-02-12]
Tifton Golden Road 7,000-gallon sewage spill into Little River 2024-02-12

According to the February 19, 2024, GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report, this Tifton spill happened February 12, due to power failure.

Tifton, like Ashburn, may want to invest in some backup generators.

The location given by GA-EPD is 803 E. Golden Road, into “Gum Creek”.

[803 Golden Road, Tifton, Spill of 2024-02-12 in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report 2024-02-19]
803 Golden Road, Tifton, Spill of 2024-02-12 in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report 2024-02-19

That address is just west of the Golden Road Lift Station that has been the location of previous spills, including:

The excuse each time was power failure or equipment failure. Continue reading →

Tifton sewage spill, Little River 2022-09-04

Update 2024-02-22: Tifton 7,000-gallon sewage spill, Golden Road above Little River 2024-02-12.

Update 2022-09-09: Clean river water quality tests, but heavy rains 2022-09-08.

Tifton spilled 2,000 gallons of sewage due to a power failure Sunday, as revealed by Wednesday’s GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report.

[Spill, Maps]
Spill, Maps

Maybe Tifton should do what Valdosta has done: buy a generator for each lift station.

We’ve seen spills before at Tifton’s Golden Road Lift Station, so it’s already in our WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail. This location is so far upstream of anywhere water quality is tested, and the spill was so small, that it is very unlikely it will be detected in water quality samples. Continue reading →

Tifton spilled 2,000 gallons raw sewage 2020-11-03

Update 2020-11-06: Odd water quality upstream, Withlacoochee River 2020-11-04

Any amount is too much, but that 2,000 gallons Tuesday was probably not enough to affect Reed Bingham State Park Lake much, nor anything downstream from it. However, we don’t know, because nobody was testing on Willow Creek or the Little River above RBSP. Any spill is too much raw sewage into waterways.

[Golden Road Lift Station, Spill, RBSP, Little, Withlacoochee, Suwannee Rivers]
Golden Road Lift Station, Spill, RBSP, Little, Withlacoochee, Suwannee Rivers

Unlike some other cities recently, Tifton did timely report this spill, which appeared in GA-EPD’s Sewage Spills Report the day after it happened.

And this time was less than the 250,000 gallons on September 11, 2017 from the same Golden Road Lift Station. Continue reading →