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Sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) reported — Western Virginia Water Authority (Roanoke Regional Water Pollution Control Plant and collection system), May 31, 2026

Ended (as reported) · Virginia DEQ Pollution Response Program (PReP), Blue Ridge Regional Office

Source: Virginia DEQ Pollution Response Program (PReP), Blue Ridge Regional Office via Virginia DEQ Pollution Response Program (PReP) pollution reports, sewage-related, record 323790, reported Jun 1, 2026, 2:20 PM EDT, retrieved 2026-11-03 02:40 UTC · Read the original notice

Current status from this report

This report does not set a map status as of Nov 2, 2026, 9:43 PM EST. Check its dates and the status rules.

A report is not a test of the water. See how we assign statuses.

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1. Reported wastewater outlet

Operator named in the record: Western Virginia Water Authority (Roanoke Regional Water Pollution Control Plant and collection system) (federal wastewater discharge permit, NPDES, VA0025020). Outlet: not stated. Location: 37.19635, -80.00193; location source: geocoded from an address or place name.

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

2. Waters named in the notice

The notice names: “Back Creek”. Not linked to a mapped water. name match too far (395.1 km)

3. Estimated downstream stretch

We estimate routes only on rivers before they become tidal. We do not estimate routes through tidal water or lakes.

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.

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When it happened and when it was reported

Event and notice times use Eastern Time (EST or EDT). Retrieval times use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Started
Ended
Detail provided by the source
Times known to the minute
Reported to the source
Published
not given
Source last updated
Last retrieved by DirtyWaterWatch

What and how much

Type
Sanitary sewer overflow (SSO): sewage spills from a sewer meant to carry sewage separately from rainwater.
Status in the record
Ended (as reported)
Material
“untreated sewage”
Volume
52,500 gallons (not stated whether estimated or measured)
Volume as reported
“52,500 gallons”

Advice from Virginia DEQ Pollution Response Program (PReP), Blue Ridge Regional Office

This report includes no advice. Check current local health notices.

Advice period
This report does not state a period. See the rule DirtyWaterWatch applies and its source.
Basis
not stated

Source and versions

Source
Virginia DEQ Pollution Response Program (PReP) pollution reports, sewage-related
Source record number
323790
Original notice
Read the original notice
Earlier version
None: this is the first record
Later versions
None

Record details

Record details
Record identifierva-deq-prep:323790
Source identifierva-deq-prep
Source record number323790
Earlier versionNot provided
TypeSanitary sewer overflow (SSO)
Status in the reportEnded (as reported)
Sewer operator identifierva-wvwa
Sewer operatorWestern Virginia Water Authority (Roanoke Regional Water Pollution Control Plant and collection system)
Federal wastewater discharge permit (NPDES)VA0025020
Outlet numberNot provided
Outlet nameNot provided
Water named in the reportBack Creek
Linked watersNot provided
How this report was linked to the waternot linked to a mapped water
Latitude37.196
Longitude-80.002
Location sourcegeocoded from an address or place name
Location accuracy, in metresNot provided
StartedMay 31, 2026, 11:00 PM EDT (2026-05-31T23:00:00-04:00)
EndedJun 1, 2026, 12:15 AM EDT (2026-06-01T00:15:00-04:00)
Detail provided by the sourceto the minute
Reported to the sourceJun 1, 2026, 2:20 PM EDT (2026-06-01T14:20:00-04:00)
PublishedNot provided
Source last updatedJun 25, 2026, 2:28 PM EDT (2026-06-25T14:28:24-04:00)
Last retrieved by DirtyWaterWatchNov 2, 2026, 9:40 PM EST (2026-11-03T02:40:36Z)
Materialuntreated sewage
Volume, in gallons52,500
Volume as reported52,500 gallons
How volume was determinednot stated whether estimated or measured
AuthorityVirginia DEQ Pollution Response Program (PReP), Blue Ridge Regional Office
AdviceNot provided
Advice period, in hoursNot provided
Basis of the advice periodNot provided
Original noticehttps://portal.deq.virginia.gov/v2/prep/prepReport/323790

Original source data

{
  "report": {
    "id": "323790",
    "via": "api",
    "incident": "2026-05-31T23:00:00",
    "incident_end": null,
    "received": "2026-06-01T14:20:00",
    "closed": "2026-06-25T14:28:25",
    "modified": "2026-06-25T14:28:24",
    "date_unknown": false,
    "site_name": "SSO - WVWA",
    "address": "6661 Merriman Road",
    "city": "Roanoke",
    "zip": "24018",
    "county_city": "Roanoke County",
    "region": "Blue Ridge",
    "status_text": "Closed",
    "categories": [
      "Sanitary Sewer Overflow",
      "Risk Tier Referred"
    ],
    "waterbody": "Back Creek",
    "other_waterbody": null,
    "original_waterbody": "Back Creek",
    "water_threatened": "Y",
    "low": 52500,
    "high": 52500,
    "unit": "Gallons",
    "ssors": null,
    "nrc": [],
    "vdem": null,
    "epa": null,
    "facility_name": "Western Virginia Water Authority",
    "facility_permitted": "Y",
    "responsible_company": "WVWA - Western Virginia Water Authority",
    "still_occurring": "N"
  },
  "text": {
    "incident_comment": "SSO - WVWA",
    "location_comment": "Starkey Sewer Lift Station.",
    "closure_comment": "Permitted facility, 5 day letter received"
  },
  "sewage": [
    {
      "duration_h": 1.25,
      "component": "Pump Station",
      "component_id": 11,
      "volume_gal": 52500,
      "volume_unknown": null,
      "wet_weather": "N",
      "treated": "N",
      "precipitation_in": null,
      "causes": [
        "Pump Station"
      ],
      "impacts": [
        "Discharge to State Waters"
      ],
      "corrective_action": null,
      "steps_taken": null,
      "component_comment": null,
      "other_cause": null
    }
  ],
  "status_log": [
    {
      "at": "2026-06-01T14:24:49",
      "type": "Call Received"
    },
    {
      "at": "2026-06-01T14:29:44",
      "type": "Under Investigation"
    },
    {
      "at": "2026-06-01T14:29:44",
      "type": "Assigned"
    },
    {
      "at": "2026-06-25T00:00:00",
      "type": "5-Day Letter"
    },
    {
      "at": "2026-06-25T14:28:25",
      "type": "Closed Call/IR"
    }
  ],
  "created_in_prep": "2026-06-01T14:24:49",
  "event_type_basis": "DEQ category Sanitary Sewer Overflow",
  "permit": {
    "typed_permit": null,
    "deq_vpdes_links": [
      "VA0025020"
    ],
    "ms4": null,
    "ms4_links": null,
    "basis": "DEQ's VPDES link on the report"
  },
  "discharger_match": {
    "by_permit": null,
    "by_name": [
      "va-wvwa"
    ],
    "result": "by operator name in the report"
  },
  "volume_basis": "sewage report discharge volume (gallons)",
  "_ended_at_basis": "incident time + duration 1.25 h (sewage report)",
  "_time_basis": "PReP API times are local wall-clock times with no zone, read as America/New_York. The export table stores local time + 5 h all year (decoded by subtracting 5 h); the EDMA point layer stores local time labelled as UTC (decoded by reading the UTC clock as local).",
  "water_placement": {
    "text": "Back Creek",
    "towns": [
      "Roanoke",
      "Roanoke County"
    ],
    "notes": [
      "'back creek': the point is not near any of the 1 Virginia waters with this name: not used"
    ],
    "echo_outfall": null
  },
  "point": {
    "lat": 37.196348,
    "lon": -80.001932,
    "layer": "DEQ EDMA layer 175 (PReP Reports, Daily)",
    "reference_point": "FC",
    "note": "DEQ's geocode of the report's site address (REFERENCE_POINT 'PG'), not an outfall point",
    "edma_incident": "2026-05-31T23:00:00-04:00",
    "edma_received": "2026-06-01T14:20:00-04:00"
  },
  "attribution": "DEQ is the data source. DEQ does not certify that this data represents a complete record. This data is provided to the citizens of the Commonwealth free of charge and for informational purposes only.",
  "api_url": "https://portal.deq.virginia.gov/prep/api/prepReports/323790?expand=prepStatusCode,prepUnitTypeCode,prepReportSewages.prepComponentTypeCode,prepReportSewages.prepSewageCauses.prepCauseCode,prepReportSewages.prepSewageImpacts.prepImpactTypeCode,prepReportReleaseSubtypes.prepReleaseSubtypeCode,prepReportPermitViews,prepOriginalReport,prepReportEvents.prepEventTypeCode,prepFipsCode.fipsRegion"
}

Source: Virginia DEQ Pollution Response Program (PReP), Blue Ridge Regional Office via Virginia DEQ Pollution Response Program (PReP) pollution reports, sewage-related, record 323790, reported Jun 1, 2026, 2:20 PM EDT, retrieved 2026-11-03 02:40 UTC · Read the original notice

Staff names, email addresses and phone numbers are removed from source data before it is stored.