History

Dalton Utilities: Embracing Innovation for More Than a Century

1887

Dalton Water Works built at site of Crown Cotton Mill spring.

1894

Expanded water pumping facility and installed pipeline from Mill Creek.

1898

Steam-powered electric generating plant installed.

1913

Board of Commissioners of the Water, Light and Sinking Fund formed.

1913

Dalton Utilities begins buying hydroelectric power from Georgia Railway & Power Company (which would later become Georgia Power Company).

1930s

Bedspread industry grows in Dalton.

1930

Mill Creek water treatment plant constructed.

1951

Water, Light and Sinking Fund Commission takes over city sewer system.

1952

Natural gas transmission line constructed to Southern Natural's supply line in Rome.

1960s

Carpet "boom" period. Dalton becomes Carpet Capital of the World.

1963-64

Riverwater water treatment plant constructed along Conasauga River 24 million gallons per day (MGD) capacity.

1969

Riverwater water treatment plant capacity expanded to 42 MGD current plant capacity.

1973

Riverbend wastewater treatment plant constructed with capacity of 24 MGD.

1976

Dalton Utilities purchases interests in two nuclear & two fossil-fueled electric generating plants and joins the Georgia Integrated Transmission System with Georgia Power, MEAG and Oglethorpe Power.

1984-86

Dalton Utilities builds innovative Land Application System on 9,200 acres in Whitfield and Murray counties for land application of treated wastewater.

1997-2000

Dalton Utilities expands and upgrades Land Application System and constructs new Sludge Drying Facility and new 19 MGD wastewater treatment plant.

1997-present

Dalton Utilities rehabilitates entire sewage collection system.

1998-2006

Dalton Utilities begins water distribution expansion projects in Westside and Murray County.

1999-2000

Telecommunications sector established. Fiber optics backbone constructed.

2001-2002

Riverbend wastewater plant renovated and expanded.

2001-2002

Dalton Utilities leases land on its Land Application System, sells wastewater and electrical interconnections to Duke Energy for the largest water reuse project in the state - a combined cycle electrical generating plant which utilizes natural gas and steam.

2001-2002

Dalton Utilities begins receiving water from Eastside Utilities in northwest Whitfield County.

2001-2002

Eastside Utilities is granted an Interbasin Transfer Permit to sell water to Dalton Utilities (for use in Conasauga River basin).

2001-2003

SCADA system (supervisory control and data acquisition) installed in all sectors utilizing the Utility's new fiber optics system.

2002

Dalton Utilities begins water distribution expansion project in North Whitfield County.

2003

Dalton Utilities introduces OptiLink – an all fiber optic network delivering television, telephone and high-speed Internet services to residential and commercial customers.

2004

Dalton Utilities completes construction of Equalization Basin to provide for peak loading and overflow protection for both the Riverbend Road and Loopers Bend wastewater treatment plants. The construction of the EQ Basin completed the Utility’s DDR, which was issued in November 1996 to establish design data in order for the Utility’s wastewater treatment permit to be increased from 30 MGD to 40 MGD.

2005

OptiLink opens Cyberlounge at Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center.

2006

Dalton Utilities completes countywide water expansion, bringing water services to every public road in Whitfield County.

2006-2007

OptiLink expands service delivery to north and west sides of Whitfield County.