Cobb County reported another spill of treated wastewater into Lake Allatoona. The spill took place Thursday, August 22, and was discovered during sampling on Thursday, August 29.

The Courier will give further updates as information becomes available.

Here is the press release distributed by the county:

On Thursday, August 22, 2024, Cobb County Water System’s (CCWS) Northwest Water Reclamation Facility released treated wastewater that did not fully meet the facility’s standards.

Cobb County Water System’s Northwest Water Reclamation Facility is permitted by Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to treat 12 million gallons of wastewater daily. Once treated, the water is released into Lake Allatoona and routinely tested. EPD classifies the release of treated wastewater that doesn’t meet certain standards as a “spill.” This designation was determined by CCWS on Thursday, August 29, after receiving routine compliance sampling results. 

Plant operations staff is investigating the cause of the excursion and making necessary adjustments to ensure compliance with the discharge permit. The effluent flow from the facility into Lake Allatoona was 6.05 million gallons on August 22, 2024. The effluent was disinfected and will not impact drinking water supplies.

CCWS employees followed EPD protocols by promptly reporting the sampling results and have begun conducting daily water quality testing upstream and downstream of the effluent discharge location in Lake Allatoona. No cleanup or remediation is required, and there have not been any reported impacts to the lake.

About the Northwest Water Reclamation Center

The Cobb County Water System’s Northwest Water Reclamation Center is located at 3740 Highway 293 in Kennesaw, in the northwest corner of the county near Proctor Creek.

It treats from the northwest quadrant of unincorporated Cobb County; the cities of Acworth and Kennesaw; and portions of Bartow, Cherokee, and Paulding counties.  

According to the Cobb County Water System web page for the Northwest Water Reclamation Center:

The facility reclaims wastewater, producing reuse-quality water that is either discharged to Lake Allatoona through an underwater diffuser or provided to several urban reuse customers for irrigation purposes.  

Originally built in 1987, the plant was sized to treat 2 million gallons per day (mgd), then upsized to 4 mgd in 1988.  In 1997, the plant capacity was doubled, to a capacity of 8 mgd.  The facility was again expanded in 2008, with an expanded capacity of 12 mgd.