Reported sewage discharges in Georgia

What the law requires. Under Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 391-3-6-.05(3), a publicly owned sewer system that spills raw sewage into the state's waters must tell the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) and the local health department at once (EPD in person or by telephone, in writing within five days), tell local television, radio and newspapers within 24 hours, and post signs at the spill and at access points downstream (bridges, trails, boat ramps) for at least seven days after it ends. A spill over 10,000 gallons also needs a notice in the county's legal newspaper within seven days and notice to water suppliers within 20 miles downstream. Of four combined sewer permits (sewage and rainwater in one pipe: Atlanta East and West, Columbus, Albany), Atlanta's require overflow notices at the site, downstream and on the city's website, as EPD describes them. The rule sets no period after a spill for staying out of the water.

What is published. Each business day EPD lists the municipal sewage spills of about the last 30 days (a spill can appear by the next business day): the day it began, permit, street location, gallons, river basin and stream. Its earlier daily lists stay online at dated addresses from October 9, 2025, and some give EPD's own point for each spill; EPD's Spills in Georgia map gives points for the spills on the current list. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) receives the same spills through Georgia's electronic reporting system, with start and end times but no volume. On the coast, the Department of Natural Resources' Healthy Beaches program posts temporary advisories when bacteria are high, and permanent ones at a few beaches.

What is not published. EPD's list gives no time of day, no end and no record number. The signs, broadcasts and newspaper notices are not online. No overflow page was found for Atlanta, though the city has announced at least one overflow in a press release, and no public notices for Columbus; Albany's are not yet reviewed. Inland waters are not monitored for swimming statewide, and no statewide algal bloom list was found.

Known problems in the data. Gallons are often blank or zero until determined ("A 'zero' in the quantity field indicates the amount of the spill has not been determined"). EPD corrects or removes some rows after posting. EPA's reports often give the sewer system's location, not the spill's. Many reports name a small stream or unnamed tributary not yet mapped here.

What this site does about it. This site keeps each day's list and reads EPD's earlier lists for history, so spills stay after they leave the 30-day window; rows EPD corrects or removes are kept with a note. Points are EPD's own: from an earlier list where one gives it, else from EPD's map by permit and address; EPA's sewer-system locations are not used; a spill with no point from EPD is placed by the stream EPD names, where that stream has a record. A spill EPD and EPA both describe on the same day is shown once where the two reports can be matched, as EPD's record with EPA's end time. With no period in law, no Georgia report has an official window. A spill with a reported end is shown from the day it began to the day it ended, then 72 hours of caution; one without is dated to the day only: caution for 72 hours from the start of that day, then hatched "End not confirmed" until 30 days after it began.

Of the 997 registered treatment-plant and sewer outfalls in Georgia, 789 (79 percent) are tied to a water record on this site and 208 (21 percent) are not yet (the stream they discharge to has no record, or the location given could not be matched); an overflow at one of those appears on the map at its point with no water coloured.

Of this state's reports on this site, 100 percent are dated to the day or better; the newest dated report is from Nov 2, 2026. Coverage: Dated reports.