Composting

Dalton Utilities Puts Waste to Beneficial Reuse

You’ve heard of taking lemons and making lemonade, haven’t you? Well, Dalton Utilities does something sort of like that….only it doesn’t involve lemons! Dalton Utilities has an ongoing partnership with Harvest Farms to take the solids (or sludge) from our wastewater system and put it to work to improve the environment. Why? We think a cleaner river and invigorated soil are good reasons. Dalton Utilities treats the wastewater produced today by homes and businesses in our community in such a fashion that it not only does not HARM the environment; it actually IMPROVES the environment!

While the Utility is proud to put this waste product to beneficial reuse, we benefit doubly by reducing our cost of the disposal of sludge by more than $400,000 per year.

How do we do it? In the wastewater treatment process, solids (or sludge) are pulled from the wastewater in several of the treatment stages. This sludge is then sent to a special digester for treatment. At our sludge handling facility, a polymer or “caking” agent is added to the dewatered sludge, which is then sent through a high-speed centrifuge to remove any remaining moisture.

At this point, the sludge is mixed with organic material, like tree bark and wood chips. The mixture is composted in large containers where it must be kept above 131 degrees Fahrenheit for three consecutive days and an average 114 degrees Fahrenheit for a total of 14 days. No special heating is required as the composting process produces its own heat. During this heating process, any pathogens in the sludge/organic matter combination are eliminated. The compost is then placed in windrows (long rows of heaped compost in an open field) on our Land Application System facility to complete the decay process for an additional four to six months.

Is it safe? The initial treatment and final composting processes consume the contaminants from the organic matter. In fact, the composting process is closely regulated by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to ensure the safety of the product. According to Gerry Harstine, president of Harvest Farms, “All soil is made up of things that have decayed, but the end product of composted sludge is safer and cleaner than any soil you might dig up in your front yard.”