DirtyWaterWatch Public waters. Public record.

Virginia / Reports /

Sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) reported — City of Covington Wastewater Treatment Plant, Oct 12, 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 325788, reported Oct 13, 2026, 10:23 AM 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.

Read the original notice · Report an error

1. Reported wastewater outlet

Operator named in the record: City of Covington Wastewater Treatment Plant (federal wastewater discharge permit, NPDES, VA0025542). Outlet: not stated. Location: 37.79518, -79.99435; 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: “Jackson River”. DirtyWaterWatch links this report to Jackson River, VA. Match basis: the water named in the report.

3. Estimated downstream stretch

No downstream estimate is available for this report.

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.

Open on the main map

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
43,200 gallons (not stated whether estimated or measured)
Volume as reported
“43,200 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

Status history from this report

Source: DirtyWaterWatch calculations using this report and the published status rules. Updated 2026-11-03 02:43 UTC.

Source and versions

Source
Virginia DEQ Pollution Response Program (PReP) pollution reports, sewage-related
Source record number
325788
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:325788
Source identifierva-deq-prep
Source record number325788
Earlier versionNot provided
TypeSanitary sewer overflow (SSO)
Status in the reportEnded (as reported)
Sewer operator identifierva-covington
Sewer operatorCity of Covington Wastewater Treatment Plant
Federal wastewater discharge permit (NPDES)VA0025542
Outlet numberNot provided
Outlet nameNot provided
Water named in the reportJackson River
Linked watersjackson-river-va
How this report was linked to the waterthe water named in the report
Latitude37.795
Longitude-79.994
Location sourcegeocoded from an address or place name
Location accuracy, in metresNot provided
StartedOct 12, 2026, 11:15 AM EDT (2026-10-12T11:15:00-04:00)
EndedOct 13, 2026, 11:15 AM EDT (2026-10-13T11:15:00-04:00)
Detail provided by the sourceto the minute
Reported to the sourceOct 13, 2026, 10:23 AM EDT (2026-10-13T10:23:00-04:00)
PublishedNot provided
Source last updatedOct 14, 2026, 11:46 AM EDT (2026-10-14T11:46:38-04:00)
Last retrieved by DirtyWaterWatchNov 2, 2026, 9:40 PM EST (2026-11-03T02:40:36Z)
Materialuntreated sewage
Volume, in gallons43,200
Volume as reported43,200 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/325788

Original source data

{
  "report": {
    "id": "325788",
    "via": "api",
    "incident": "2026-10-12T11:15:00",
    "incident_end": null,
    "received": "2026-10-13T10:23:00",
    "closed": "2026-10-14T11:46:38",
    "modified": "2026-10-14T11:46:38",
    "date_unknown": false,
    "site_name": "SSO - City of Covington",
    "address": "Short Ave",
    "city": "Covington",
    "zip": "24426",
    "county_city": "Covington City",
    "region": "Blue Ridge",
    "status_text": "Closed",
    "categories": [
      "Sanitary Sewer Overflow",
      "Risk Tier Referred"
    ],
    "waterbody": "Jackson River",
    "other_waterbody": null,
    "original_waterbody": "Jackson River",
    "water_threatened": "Y",
    "low": 43200,
    "high": 43200,
    "unit": "Gallons",
    "ssors": null,
    "nrc": [],
    "vdem": null,
    "epa": null,
    "facility_name": "Covington City WWTP",
    "facility_permitted": "Y",
    "responsible_company": "City of Covington",
    "still_occurring": "Y"
  },
  "text": {
    "incident_comment": "- unknown amount from MH to Jackson River, ongoing at time of report; PREP requested notification when stopped; due to heavy rain\n\n5 Day Letter received.",
    "location_comment": "Short Ave",
    "closure_comment": "Permitted - 5 Day Letter received."
  },
  "sewage": [
    {
      "duration_h": 24,
      "component": "Manhole",
      "component_id": 1,
      "volume_gal": 43200,
      "volume_unknown": "N",
      "wet_weather": "Y",
      "treated": "N",
      "precipitation_in": null,
      "causes": [
        "High Levels of Inflow and/or Infiltration"
      ],
      "impacts": [
        "Discharge to State Waters"
      ],
      "corrective_action": null,
      "steps_taken": null,
      "component_comment": null,
      "other_cause": null
    }
  ],
  "status_log": [
    {
      "at": "2026-10-14T00:00:00",
      "type": "5-Day Letter"
    },
    {
      "at": "2026-10-14T09:26:59",
      "type": "Call Received"
    },
    {
      "at": "2026-10-14T09:27:04",
      "type": "Assigned"
    },
    {
      "at": "2026-10-14T09:27:04",
      "type": "Under Investigation"
    },
    {
      "at": "2026-10-14T11:46:38",
      "type": "Closed Call/IR"
    }
  ],
  "created_in_prep": "2026-10-14T09:26:59",
  "event_type_basis": "DEQ category Sanitary Sewer Overflow",
  "permit": {
    "typed_permit": null,
    "deq_vpdes_links": [
      "VA0025542"
    ],
    "ms4": null,
    "ms4_links": null,
    "basis": "DEQ's VPDES link on the report"
  },
  "discharger_match": {
    "by_permit": "va-covington",
    "by_name": [
      "va-covington"
    ],
    "result": "by permit"
  },
  "volume_basis": "sewage report discharge volume (gallons)",
  "_ended_at_basis": "incident time + duration 24 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": "Jackson River",
    "towns": [
      "Covington",
      "Covington City"
    ],
    "notes": null,
    "echo_outfall": null
  },
  "point": {
    "lat": 37.795183,
    "lon": -79.994352,
    "layer": "DEQ EDMA layer 175 (PReP Reports, Daily)",
    "reference_point": "PG",
    "note": "DEQ's geocode of the report's site address (REFERENCE_POINT 'PG'), not an outfall point",
    "edma_incident": "2026-10-12T11:15:00-04:00",
    "edma_received": "2026-10-13T10:23:00-04:00"
  },
  "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/325788?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 325788, reported Oct 13, 2026, 10:23 AM 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.