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North Carolina / Sewer operators /

City of Winston-Salem

Sewer utility · North Carolina · Winston-Salem, Winston Salem

Map sources: water outlines and launches from OpenBoatLaunch and OpenStreetMap contributors (Open Database License); wastewater outlets from EPA and state records; downstream estimates by DirtyWaterWatch using U.S. Geological Survey maps and flow data. Base map: OpenFreeMap and OpenMapTiles.

Ringed dots mark treatment plant outfalls. Small hollow diamonds mark places named in its overflow reports (provisional). Square boat markers mark boat launches listed by OpenBoatLaunch.

Federal wastewater discharge permit (NPDES)
NC0037834, WQCS00003, NC0050342
Wastewater outlets
4 treatment plant outfalls listed by EPA or state agencies; 176 places named in its own overflow reports (provisional locations) · List
Waters listed as receiving wastewater
Salem Creek; Muddy Creek; Salem Creek (Middle Fork Muddy Creek); YADKIN RIVER
Tracked waters
Muddy Creek, NC, Salem Creek, NC, Yadkin River, NC, Reedy Fork, NC, South Fork Muddy Creek, NC, Peters Creek, NC, Burke Creek, NC, Leak Fork, NC, Lowery Mill Creek, NC, Reynolds Creek, NC, Brushy Fork, NC, East Belews Creek, NC, Abbotts Creek, NC, Tar Branch, NC, Fiddlers Creek, NC, Kerners Mill Creek, NC, Brushy Fork Branch, NC, Blanket Creek, NC, Grassy Creek, NC, Leak Creek, NC, Fishers Branch, NC, West Belews Creek, NC, Sides Branch, NC, Salem Lake, NC
Discharge records counted
194 records · latest
Total reported volume in these records
852,011 gallons across the 181 records that give a volume (13 without one)

These totals reflect the records we track. Missing volumes and gaps in reporting limit comparisons between operators.

Sources: EPA ECHO and the operator and state sources linked below. Counts use the discharge records on this page. Updated 2026-11-05 01:25 UTC.

Public notices and alerts

We do not list an alert service for this operator yet. Check its website.

Its public-notice channels

Source: City of Winston-Salem's public notice and alert pages and the state's notification records; DirtyWaterWatch register of public-notice channels and its page monitor.

Report a missing notice or error

Wastewater outlets

Outfall: a pipe or outlet where wastewater enters a water body.

4 treatment plant outfalls listed by EPA or state agencies; 176 places named in its own overflow reports (provisional locations).

Treatment plant outfalls

4 outfalls

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permit records (ICIS-NPDES permitted features): where a treatment plant’s permitted discharge leaves. No national source says whether a plant outfall is open or closed.

Places named in overflow reports (provisional)

176 places · 3 not on the map (reports say the sewage reached no water)

Provisional location from overflow reports. Where the operator's own reports put an overflow: a manhole, pump station or plant. Not an outfall listed in a permit.

  • Reported place · 3 overflow reports, latest Oct 15, 2025 · confidence high · no water record yet
  • Reported place · 3 overflow reports, latest Jun 21, 2024 · confidence high · no water record yet
  • Reported place · 2 overflow reports, latest Oct 22, 2026 · confidence high · no water record yet
  • Reported place · 2 overflow reports, latest Sep 11, 2026 · confidence high · no water record yet
  • Reported place · 2 overflow reports, latest Aug 25, 2026 · confidence high · no water record yet
  • Reported place · 2 overflow reports, latest May 8, 2026 · confidence high · no water record yet
  • Reported place · 2 overflow reports, latest Nov 3, 2025 · confidence high · no water record yet
  • Reported place · 2 overflow reports, latest Mar 27, 2025 · confidence high · no water record yet
  • Reported place · 2 overflow reports, latest Feb 14, 2025 · confidence high · no water record yet
  • Reported place · 2 overflow reports, latest Dec 27, 2024 · confidence high · no water record yet
  • Reported place · 2 overflow reports, latest Feb 19, 2024 · confidence high · no water record yet
  • Reported place · 2 overflow reports, latest Feb 5, 2024 · confidence high · no water record yet

Showing 12 of 176.

Source: the operator's own overflow reports to the state. DirtyWaterWatch groups reports within 50 metres into one place and finds the water below it with U.S. Geological Survey river maps (NLDI, NHDPlus). Not a permitted outfall; provisional until an official outfall record exists.

Reports and advisories

Sanitary sewer overflow (SSO): sewage spills from a sewer meant to carry sewage separately from rainwater.

Reports linked to City of Winston-Salem, newest first
WhenReportStatus
to 5:27 PMSalem Creek · 1265 Foster Street, Winston-Salem, Nc, 27127 · SSO · 1,800 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 1:37 PMSalem Creek · 1109 Tower Street, Winston-Salem, Nc, 27107 · SSO · 8,000 gallons in all mapended
to 7:45 PMReedy Fork · 318 Gralin Street, Kernersville · SSO · 25 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 5:45 PMSouth Fork Muddy Creek · 5080 Queensway Road, Winston-Salem · SSO · 1,350 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 7:15 PMSalem Creek · 400 Leisure Lane Winston Salem NC · SSO · 100 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 12:30 PM“Silas Creek” · 900 Yorkshire Rd, Winston Salem, Nc, · SSO · 800 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 1:20 PM“Little (Obadiah) Creek” · 4204-4208 Country Club Rd, Winston Salem, North Carolina, 27104 · SSO · 9,600 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 2:20 PM“Silas Creek” · 4850 Thales Rd, Apartment K, Winston Salem, North Carolina, 27104 · SSO · 2,400 gallons in all mapended
to 5:29 PMPeters Creek · 3890 Huntingreen Ln, Winston Salem, North Carolina, 27106 · SSO · 11,700 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 12:50 PMBurke Creek · Truliant Federal Credit Union Winston-Salem · SSO · 2,850 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 6:15 PM“Silas Creek” · 900 Yorkshire Road, Winston-Salem · SSO · 23,400 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 3:15 PMLeak Fork · 4825 North Cherry Street, Winston-Salem · SSO · 600 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 11:55 PMLowery Mill Creek · 3465 Myer Lee Drive, Winston-Salem · SSO · 9,750 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 11:20 AMMuddy Creek · 4971 Old Towne Village Circle, Pfafftown · SSO · 450 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 2:00 PMMuddy Creek, Salem Creek · 1654 Asherton Drive, Winston-Salem · SSO · 900 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 3:30 PMMuddy Creek, Salem Creek · 2100 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem · SSO · 2,250 gallons report · notice · mapended
to Jul 15, 10:30 AMReynolds Creek · 265 Fox Ridge Circle, Lewisville · SSO · 6,150 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 8:00 PMMuddy Creek · 152 Stoney Brook Boulevard, Winston-Salem · SSO · 1,000 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 4:00 PMBrushy Fork · 2628 Claremont Avenue, Winston-Salem · SSO · 1,000 gallons report · notice · mapended
to May 21, 10:27 AMEast Belews Creek · 314 Rierson Road, Kernersville · SSO · 2,925 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 10:15 PMAbbotts Creek · 1550 Conning Court, Kernersville · SSO · 600 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 8:40 PMAbbotts Creek · 1381 Amylee Trail, Kernersville · SSO · 3,000 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 3:00 PM“Terry Road Branch Creek” · 1256 Terry Road, Winston-Salem · SSO · 3,000 gallons report · notice · mapended

Sources: NC DEQ DWR "SSOs and Bypasses" ArcGIS layer, retrieved 2026-11-05 01:08 UTC. A report's record id and times show when you hover or focus its "report" link.

Download these reports as CSV

Showing the latest 25 records of 199 records.See them all with filters.

All reports in North Carolina by year: 2026 (41 from City of Winston-Salem) · 2025 (49 from City of Winston-Salem) · 2024 (52 from City of Winston-Salem) · 2023 (47 from City of Winston-Salem) · 2022 (10 from City of Winston-Salem)

Other sewer operators on these waters

The last 90 days

Last 90 days, hour by hour. Red: discharge or advisory reported. Amber: caution. Hatched amber: end not confirmed. Plum: algal bloom advisory. Red or amber with a light line inside: beach advisory or caution. Dotted: monthly report (days with discharge, dates not given). Grey: no current status on the water outline. Purple hatching: source update overdue.
  • Caution: to
    1 report: Salem Creek 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Discharge or advisory reported: to
    1 report: Salem Creek 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Caution: to
    2 reports: Salem Creek 2
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Discharge or advisory reported: to
    2 reports: Salem Creek 2
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Caution: to
    2 reports: Reedy Fork 1, South Fork Muddy Creek 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Discharge or advisory reported: to
    1 report: Reedy Fork 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Caution: to
    1 report: South Fork Muddy Creek 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Discharge or advisory reported: to
    1 report: South Fork Muddy Creek 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Caution: to
    1 report: Salem Creek 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Discharge or advisory reported: to
    1 report: Salem Creek 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

6 earlier periods appear as you scroll.

Source: DirtyWaterWatch calculations using the reports named above and the published status rules. Updated 2026-11-05 01:25 UTC.

Reported discharges over time

  • Discharges reported by City of Winston-Salem, last 12 months37December 2025 to November 2026Verified reports where available, else notices; revisions and duplicates counted once.
  • Days with a discharge reported by City of Winston-Salem, last 12 months36December 2025 to November 2026A day counts once however many discharges were under way on it.
  • Hours with a discharge or advisory status from City of Winston-Salem's reports, last 12 months314December 2025 to November 2026Red hours by the map's rules: each discharge to its reported end plus the state's post-discharge period; overlapping hours count once.
  • 2026 season with a discharge or advisory status (City of Winston-Salem)2.9%May to October 2026Share of May 1 to October 31 hours with red status by the map's rules, of the hours a source covered.

Combined sewer overflow (CSO): sewage mixed with rainwater spills from a shared sewer system. Treatment bypass: wastewater skips one or more treatment steps. Blended discharge: wastewater that skipped some treatment is mixed with treated wastewater.

Reported discharges per month

194 reported discharges, January 2022 to November 2026.

  • Combined sewer overflow
  • Sanitary sewer overflow
  • Treatment bypass, blended or other
  • No tracked source for this period
  • Incomplete source coverage

No tracked source covers January 2022 to August 2022.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Hours with a discharge or advisory status per month

Hours when a water had a discharge or advisory status from this sewer operator's reports, under DirtyWaterWatch rules.

  • Discharge or advisory reported
  • No tracked source for this period
  • Incomplete source coverage

No tracked source covers January 2022 to August 2022. 159 discharge reports have no end time and are not marked ongoing; under DirtyWaterWatch rules they show caution, not a discharge or advisory status, and add no hours here. Official beach and cyanobacteria (harmful blue-green algae) advisories are counted on water pages only.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Days with a reported discharge per month

A day counts when any counted discharge was under way on it, from its start to its reported end in Eastern Time; a report with no end counts its start day.

  • No tracked source for this period
  • Incomplete source coverage

No tracked source covers January 2022 to August 2022.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Reported volume per year

Gallons (axis: K thousand, M million), summed from the 181 reports that gave a volume as a number (13 did not).

  • Incomplete source coverage
Limited recordsLimited records

13 of 194 discharge reports gave no volume as a number; only numbers are summed.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Hours with a discharge or advisory status per year

Hours with a discharge or advisory status each year under DirtyWaterWatch rules; 2026 to date.

  • Discharge or advisory reported
  • Incomplete source coverage
Limited recordsLimited records

159 discharge reports have no end time and are not marked ongoing; under DirtyWaterWatch rules they show caution, not a discharge or advisory status, and add no hours here. Official beach and cyanobacteria (harmful blue-green algae) advisories are counted on water pages only.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Share of the May to October season with a discharge or advisory status

Share of the hours from May 1 to October 31 with a discharge or advisory status under DirtyWaterWatch rules.

  • Discharge or advisory reported
  • Season with incomplete source coverage

Seasons with incomplete source coverage: 2022. The share is of the hours a source covered. 159 discharge reports have no end time and are not marked ongoing; under DirtyWaterWatch rules they show caution, not a discharge or advisory status, and add no hours here. Official beach and cyanobacteria (harmful blue-green algae) advisories are counted on water pages only.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Reported discharges by calendar month, all years

Every counted discharge report, by the calendar month it began.

Months are summed over every year a tracked source covers; the table gives the number of years behind each month.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Reported discharges by wastewater outlet

Wastewater outlets with the most tracked discharge records: 10 of 87, all years. Counts depend on reporting coverage and do not measure legal compliance or harm.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table
How these charts are counted

We count each discharge once. Where a source publishes notices and confirmed reports, we use confirmed reports for an operator's month when available; otherwise we use notices. We combine revisions and exclude duplicate state reports copied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Monthly and yearly totals appear separately. Status hours follow this site's rules. Shaded gaps mean missing coverage, not zero discharges.

  • nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025: records from September 1, 2022 to February 15, 2026
  • nc-dwr-sso-2026: records from January 2, 2026 to the latest update