MARIETTA, Ga. - The Cobb County Water System is testing local waterways after heavy rain caused a 288,000-gallon wastewater spill in Marietta on Monday.
Facility overflow in Marietta
What we know:
The Cobb County Water System Northwest Water Reclamation Facility became overwhelmed by too much water on Monday. Heavy rainfall over several hours in the metro Atlanta area exceeded the capacity of the pipes and channels inside the facility.
A total of 10.268 million gallons of wastewater flowed into the facility that day. During the overflow, 288,000 gallons of wastewater spilled out of a manhole, flowed over the ground and went into an unnamed tributary of Proctor Creek.
The remaining 9.98 million gallons of the daily plant flow stayed inside the channels. Workers treated that water normally and discharged it according to the permit issued by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
Environmental monitoring updates
What we don't know:
Officials do not know how long the daily water quality testing will need to continue. It is also unclear if federal authorities will track the testing alongside state regulators.
Local environmental safety
Local perspective:
Cobb County Water System employees followed state protocols by quickly reporting the spill to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. Workers are conducting daily water quality testing upstream and downstream of the affected waterway.
No effects were observed in Proctor Creek because of the overflow. Officials do not expect any bad effects on Lake Allatoona, and no cleanup or remediation is required.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from the Cobb County Water System, who explained how the heavy rainfall caused the facility's breakdown and detailed their ongoing water testing.