The City of Douglas Wastewater Treatment Plant has reported a major spill of wastewater that occurred into an unnamed tributary of the Seventeen Mile River at the effluent outfall. The spill date was from 5/30/2018 at 7 a.m. until 5/31/2018 7 a.m. The spill occurred at the effluent outfall of the WWTP at 622 Iron Road Douglas, GA 31533.
Approximately 6.2 million gallons were reported. As a precaution, it is recommended that the public has no contact with the affected stream water until after 6/13/2018. The City of Douglas and ESG Operations will be sampling the waterway, both upstream and downstream, of the spill to ensure that the water quality has not been adversely affected. Sampling will be conducted for dissolved oxygen concentration, fecal coliform bacteria, pH and temperature.
The cause of the spill was high flows due to heavy rains. The permit limit of 25 mg/L BOD5 was exceeded with a 27.3 mg/L composite reading for the day triggering a technical major spill. BOD5 is a standard test run on wastewater samples collected throughout the day. BOD5 measures the oxygen demand in water and is run over a five day period. Due to state regulations, results are not available until five days after the setup date.
For more information, please contact Kevin Davis, Project Manager 912-389-3444.