255,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater was pumped into Flat Creek in Gainesville on Wednesday following an equipment malfunction at the Flat Creek Water Reclamation facility.
A press release from the City of Gainesville said one of the pumps within the facility malfunctioned, allowing the partially treated wastewater to discharge for an hour and 15 minutes before being resolved. The pump failure prevented proper treatment of the sewage and resulted in a discharge of "higher-than-normal total suspended solids."
The facility has since returned to normal operations and is now discharging water into Flat Creek which meets permit limits.
"Daily composite lab results available Thursday, Dec. 14, showed this event resulted in a daily composite discharge of 46 mg/L total suspended solids, which is above the 25 mg/L limit required by the discharge permit," the release said. "The Flat Creek WRF is subject to one of the most stringent permits in the state of Georgia. The permit designates a discharge of over 25 mg/L as a major spill."
The city said no impacts were expected to Flat Creek as a result of the incident. The stream was inspected and tested for water quality parameters and no dead or stressed aquatic life were found.
The Department of Water Resources contacted the Georgia Environmental Protection Division as required by the permit, and implemented the required testing and notification protocol. Monitoring will be continued and results will be reported to the EPD for the next 12 months.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2023/12/1219146/255000-gallons-of-partially-treated-wastewater-pumped-into-flat-creek-after-equipment-malfunction