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THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17-23, 2019 • Page 2
SOUTH DEKALB
Researchers to
study South River
Volunteers pull tires, trash and other discarded items from the South River during a clean up event.
BY HORACE HOLLOMAN
horace@dekalbchamp.com
Richard Milligan,
assistant professor in
geosciences at Georgia State
University (GSU), said he
loves to paddle the South
River in DeKalb County in
his spare time. Milligan also
volunteers at South River
Watershed Alliance.
When Milligan was
asked to participate in a
three-year study of the
South River watershed and
how it is impacted by urban
development, he said it was
a dream come true.
“I love the South
River and I’ve been
really involved in river
conservation most of my
adult life,” Milligan said.
“I’m living the dream
doing research at Georgia
State and hopefully it will
be helpful [in] improving
the health of rivers and the
South River.”
According to a team of
geoscience researchers at
GSU, the research of the
South River will focus on
how drinking water and
wastewater intermix with
flows of water in the natural
environment such as in
stream and river channels.
Researchers will also
study how rainwater enters
into sewer pipes through
poorly sealed manholes or
breaks and leaks in aging
pipes, putting an extra
burden on wastewater
treatment plants, GSU
officials said.
DeKalb officials have
previoulsy said the county
sewer infrastructure has been
neglected “for decades.”
However, the county has
recently approved more
than $100 million to repair,
rehabilitate and restore its
aging sewer pipes.
“The work that we’re
doing will be useful for
people in the future,
specifically in DeKalb,”
Milligan said. “The South
River has been subjected
to sewer overflows and
we’re hoping to better
understand how stormwater
can sometimes go into the
sewage lines and what else
could be causing some
of the sewage overflows.
Hopefully this research can
help reduce the accidents.”
Last year DeKalb
County officials reported
183 sewer spills resulting
in more than 5.6 million
gallons of sewage spilled
into the environment. When
rainwater enters the sewer
pipe system, it can create
a sanitary sewer overflow,
causing sewer water to enter
various rivers, including the
South River.
DeKalb County entered
into a consent decree in 2011
with the Environmental
Protection Agency and the
Georgia Environmental
Protection Division. The
consent decree requires
the county to clean, repair,
enlarge and maintain its
sanitary sewer pipes so
sewer overflows are reduced.
“We hope our approach
will offer lessons on how
we leam about critical
water issues, especially
in the context of cities
growing rapidly,” said
Ellis Adams, an assistant
professor of global studies
and geosciences at Georgia
State. “This is critical for
planning. It’s not just a
study and what we leam but
being able to quantify all of
it is important for someone
working with wastewater
treatment plants or someone
planning for the future of a
city and where its water is
coming from.”
Researchers received
a $400,000 grant from the
National Science Foundation
to study the South River
watershed.
According to
researchers, “DeKalb
County is an ideal
community to analyze
complex urban hydrology.”
DeKalb receives most of
its drinking water from the
Chattahoochee, but more
than 30 million gallons
a day drain from the
Chattahoochee to the South
River.
“Knowledge from this
study could help the EPA
and DeKalb County prevent
untreated sewage from
entering the South River and
its tributary creeks,” said
Milligan.
DON’T BE THE
DEALER
l
r; *
MISUSED
t -
OEft NBTIONW^
Keep them safe. Clean them out.
Take them back.
Saturday, October 26
10 a.m.-2 p.m.
For participating locations, visit www.guideinc.org/takeback
